Holdsclaw Wins Rookie Award

Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Mystics was voted WNBA Rookie of the Year, getting 48 of a possible 51 votes in results announced today.

Holdsclaw, the No. 1 pick in the May draft, averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds and helped the Mystics to a 12-20 record, a major improvement from 3-27 in 1998.

The 6-foot-2 Holdsclaw was a two-time WNBA Player of the Week and started for the East team in the WNBA All-Star game in July.

One vote each from a panel of sportwriters and broadcasters went to Detroit's Dominique Canty, Orlando's Nykesha Sales and New York's Tamika Whitmore.

Holdsclaw said that while she was honored to receive the award, she missed her No. 1 goal: making the playoffs.

She looked for greater progress next season.

"We won four times as many games, and with the draft, hopefully, we'll acquire some better players," she told a news conference. "We'll make some trades here and there and maybe have a better team next year."

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