Angel Reese breaks WNBA record for most rebounds in a single season

Angel Reese continues setting WNBA records in her rookie season.

The Chicago Sky forward broke the mark for most rebounds in a single season when she grabbed her sixth board in Sunday’s 79–74 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. That gave Reese 405 rebounds for the season, overtaking Sylvia Fowles’ record of 404 set during the 2018 campaign. Fowles played for the Lynx at the time, adding an intriguing footnote to Reese’s achievement.

Reese, 22, finished with 19 rebounds and 17 points, her 24th double-double of the season. That boosted her rebound total to 418 with eight games remaining in the Sky’s regular season. Fellow rookie Kamilla Cardoso led Chicago with a career-high 22 points, adding nine rebounds, while Michaela Onyenwere contributed 15 points.

Courtney Williams led Minnesota with 22 points, followed by Kayla McBride’s 17 and Napheesa Collier’s 15. The Lynx improved to 23–9, maintaining the third-best record in the WNBA.

Reese leads the WNBA with an average of 13.1 rebounds per game. If the rookie maintains that average, she could put the season rebounds mark out of reach. Reese is on pace to end the season with 517 rebounds, as pointed out by SB Nation’s Noa Dalzell. That would give her 113 more boards than Fowles’ previous record.

With that kind of rebounding prowess, it surely was no coincidence that Reese wore Dennis Rodman’s Detroit Pistons jersey before Friday’s game against the Indiana Fever. Rodman was a ferociously productive rebounder during his NBA career, leading the league for seven consecutive seasons while averaging 13.1 boards per game.

Since the Olympic break, Reese has averaged 16.1 rebounds in seven games. During that stretch, she became the first WNBA player to grab 20 rebounds in three consecutive games and got her 23rd double-double of the season, topping the mark previously set by Tina Charles.

The Sky (11–20) play next on Tuesday at the Las Vegas Aces (19–12) at 10 p.m. ET. That puts Reese up against A’ja Wilson, the frontrunner for WNBA MVP who ranks second in the league averaging 11.8 rebounds per game.