The Fever’s Caitlin Clark was selected almost unanimously as the WNBA Rookie of the Year | WNBA

Caitlin Clark was named WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, giving the Indiana Fever the win after Aliyah Boston won the honor last season.

A nationwide panel of sports journalists and commentators awarded Clark 66 of 67 votes in a vote released Thursday. The second goal was scored by Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.

Clark, the No. 1 overall pick out of Iowa, averaged 19.2 points and 8.4 assists per game, a league-best per-game mark, helping the WNBA set attendance records and attract mainstream attention. She had some struggles early in the season, but found her rhythm and became an All-Star starter. The unanimous AP Rookie of the Year led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and posted a 20-20 record after a 1-8 start.

“I am a demanding student. “I feel like I had a solid year,” Clark said after eliminating the Fever in the first round of the playoffs. “For me, the coolest thing is that I feel like I’m just scratching the surface and I’m the one picking up on every single thing I do. I know I want to help this franchise. … I know I have a lot of room for further development and that’s what excites me the most. I feel like I still feel a lot better.”

Clark was not selected for the U.S. Olympic team – a decision that disappointed legions of her fans – but weeks later she showed she could be helpful. The Fever guard averaged 24.7 points and 9.3 assists in the first 10 games after the Olympic break and led Indiana to an 8-2 record.

Clark was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August, was Player of the Week three times and Rookie of the Month four times. She recorded the first two rookie triple-doubles in WNBA history, set a league single-game record with 19 assists, and became the first rookie to have at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game.

Clark led the league with 122 three-pointers, was second at 90.6% from the free-throw line, and averaged 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. She set a league single-season record with 337 assists and set rookie records for points (769) and three-pointers made.

Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds for the Sky.

Off the court, Clark, Reese and their fellow rookies have been a boon to the WNBA in rankings and attendance. Six television partners from various leagues set viewership records for the most-watched WNBA game this year. All of these games included Fever.

Indiana led the league in attendance both home and away. The average fever was 17,036 at home and over 15,000 away. When Indiana came to town to accommodate more fans, four teams moved their games to larger arenas.

According to ESPN, despite Indiana’s Game 1 loss to Connecticut, fans averaged 1.8 million viewers for the game, making it the most-watched WNBA playoff game since the 2000 Finals. It was the most-watched playoff game in ESPN history, despite facing the NFL.