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Breanna Stewart is in just her third WNBA season, but she’s already creating MVP buzz. She earned her second All-Star selection last week, and is shining in another impressive season for the Seattle Storm. Stewart’s even been tagged as the front runner in the race to be the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player.
Even her former head coach Geno Auriemma couldn’t hold back a smile when discussing Stewart as an MVP candidate.
“It didn’t take her long, did it?” he said. “It’s pretty amazing when they had a vote of general managers in the league and they could pick only one player to start your franchise and Stewie was the runaway winner. That’s easy isn’t it? There’s a lot of players in the league.”
The former UConn women’s basketball star is leading the league with 22.3 points per game this season. She has posted double figures in all but one game, including 17 games with 20 or more points, and three games with 30 or more. Additionally, Stewart is shooting an efficient 53 percent from the field, which is ninth in the league amongst players who play at least 20 or more minutes a game.
“I came to this level to be the best,” Stewart said.
The four-time national champion has also been an asset on the glass for the Storm, averaging 8.1 rebounds per game, good for fifth in the league and her defensive rebounding skills have especially shined. She corrals 24 percent of the defensive rebounds available when on the floor, which also ranks fifth in the league for players over the 20 or more minutes per game threshold.
The Seattle Storm currently sit atop of the league standings and her teammate and fellow former Husky Sue Bird was quick to credit Stewart as the reason for the team’s positioning.
“Stewie’s playing MVP caliber basketball and when you have a player like that you’re going to win more games,” Bird said.
If Stewart has anything to say about it, the team won’t be falling from the top spot any time soon.
“I don’t want to lose anymore,” Stewart said prior to the Storms’ victory over the Connecticut Sun on Friday night. “I want to be the best and I want our team to be the best”.