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Washington Mystics forward/center Shakira Austin was named to the WNBA鈥檚 All-Rookie team on Thursday, the league announced. She joins Chicago鈥檚 Rebekah Gardner, Atlanta鈥檚 Rhyne Howard, and Indiana鈥檚 Queen Egbo and NaLyssa Smith on the star-studded squad.
Your 2022 All-Rookie Team 💪
鈥� WNBA (@WNBA)
Austin enjoyed a stellar inaugural pro season in D.C., putting up 8.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game in Mystics threads. She finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Howard鈥攚ho, incidentally, the Mystics elected not to draft No. 1 overall and instead traded back to No. 3, where they selected Austin.
Austin was a workhorse for Mike Thibault all season, as she played 36 games in 2022 and finished top-five among Washington players in minutes, points, blocks, and field goal percentage, while leading the squad in rebounding.
The rook showed OUT this season!
Congrats, 👏
鈥� Washington Mystics (@WashMystics)
Though the Mystics suffered a first-round playoff exit at the hands of Seattle, Austin played quite well during their two postseason games. She put up 7.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg during that short span.
One of Austin鈥檚 calling cards as a rookie, as well as at her time in Mississippi, was her defense.
鈥淵eah, I think I gave myself a good starting point,” Austin . “Just from defensively being able to come in and really just do what I need to do on some key players. But I think I still have a lot more that I want to work towards.鈥�
