— Seattle Guard Becomes First Winner of Award in Franchise History —

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2015 – Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, who led all first-year players in scoring this season, has been named the 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year presented by Samsung, the WNBA announced today. The 5-10 guard is the first player to win the award with the Storm in the franchise’s 16 seasons.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, Loyd received 21 votes from a national panel of 39 sportswriters and broadcasters. New York Liberty center Kiah Stokes finished second with 16 votes and Indiana Fever center Natalie Achonwa was third with two votes.

Loyd averaged rookie highs of 10.7 points and 25.9 minutes, putting her second on the Storm in both categories, and added 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 34 games (23 starts). Her 90.4 free throw percentage was tops among rookies and placed her fourth in the league.

MORE: 2015 WNBA All-Rookie Team

The former Notre Dame star improved her scoring and field goal percentage every month of the season. In July, Loyd averaged 10.5 points (up from 8.1 in June) and shot 40.5 percent from the field (up from 34.1 in June) to earn the WNBA Rookie of the Month award presented by Samsung. She then averaged 12.2 points on 44.0 percent shooting in August and 13.6 points on 48.1 percent shooting in September.

Loyd scored in double digits 18 times, including 10 such performances in her final 13 games. On Aug. 30, Loyd set a franchise record for made free throws without a miss (14-for-14) and finished with 18 points to go with five rebounds and two assists as the Storm defeated the Washington Mystics 69-59. Two games later, in a 93-65 loss to the Chicago Sky, she matched her career high with 21 points and contributed a career-high seven rebounds.

This year marks the second season that Samsung, an official WNBA marketing partner, is serving as the presenting partner of the WNBA’s highest individual honors. The WNBA Performance Awards presented by Samsung program includes the WNBA Most Valuable Player, WNBA Most Improved Player, WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, WNBA Rookie of the Year, and the WNBA Players of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards.

In honor of being named the 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year presented by Samsung, Loyd will receive $5,000 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co.

Below are the complete results of the 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year presented by Samsung voting, followed by a list of previous winners:

2015 WNBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG VOTING RESULTS

21 Jewell Loyd Seattle Storm 16 Kiah Stokes New York Liberty 2 Natalie Achonwa Indiana Fever

WNBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG ALL-TIME WINNERS