Angel Reese extends WNBA double-double record to 11 straight games; can she catch Caitlin Clark in ROY race?

Angel Reese’s remarkable rookie season continues.   The Chicago Sky forward tallied 12 points and 19 rebounds against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday. Chicago secured an 85-77 win to make the most of her effort. The performance extended Reese’s WNBA record of consecutive games with a double-double to 11. She’s achieved the feat 18 games into her WNBA career.  Reese claimed the record for herself on Sunday with a 10-point, 17-rebound effort against the Minnesota Lynx. That performance broke the previous record of nine straight double-doubles held by future Hall of Famer Candace Parker from her 2015 season.

Now with every ensuing consecutive double-double, Reese claims a new record. There wasn’t much of a sweat to extend it on Tuesday.  Reese had 10 points and nine rebounds by early in the third quarter. Then with 5:39 left in the quarter, she pulled down an offensive rebound to secure the double-double. After the game, Reese learned that she’d been chosen as a WNBA All-Star.

Will Reese make a run for Rookie of the Year?

Reese’s rebounding is proving formidable at the next level. The former LSU star’s 17-rebound effort on Sunday increased her average to a league-best 11.4 per game. She’s a force on both ends of the floor and entered Tuesday averaging 13.3 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals in addition to her league-best rebounding rate. The effort sets her up as the top competition for — who else? — Caitlin Clark in the Rookie of the Year race.

Clark entered Tuesday averaging 16.2 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 34.5% from 3-point distance. The former Iowa phenom and No. 1 pick in the draft by the Indiana Fever keeps improving and is the heavy betting favorite for the award. But Reese continues to make a case that can’t be ignored.