Minnesota�s Candice Wiggins Named
2008 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year

-- No. 3 Draft Pick Named Top Reserve --

NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2008 -- Minnesota Lynx guard Candice Wiggins has been named the 2008 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, the league announced today. Wiggins received 27 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters to earn the award. Detroit Shock forward Plenette Pierson, the inaugural Sixth Woman of the Year in 2007, finished second with 10 votes while Seattle Storm guard Tanisha Wright finished third with two votes.

Wiggins made an immediate impact on the Minnesota Lynx as a rookie, helping to push the team to a 5-0 start to the season with wins over 2007 WNBA Finalists Phoenix and Detroit. Despite missing the playoffs, she helped propel the Lynx to 16 wins, the second-best total in team history and a six-game improvement on 2007. Wiggins wrapped up the season second on the team in points (15.7 ppg) and assists (3.0 apg). Despite coming off the bench in all but one of her 30 games played, she placed behind only Seimone Augustus in minutes per game among Lynx players.

Her 15.7 points per game slotted her in the top 20 among league leaders and second among all rookies while setting the all-time WNBA record for scoring by a player off the bench (Chamique Holdsclaw, 15.0, 2006). Wiggins was the only player in the WNBA to come off the bench and score more than 12 points per game. Her scoring average also placed her In the team's 96-88 loss to Houston on July 17, Wiggins set her career-high in points with 27.

With seven 20-or-more-point efforts, Wiggins submitted the Lynx's top seven performances off the bench in franchise history, while also eclipsing Holdsclaw's league record (six, 2006) for 20-point games as a reserve. Paced by their standout rookie, the Lynx set the all-time WNBA record for average points by reserves (33.9 ppg), surpassing the 33.4-points-per-game mark Sacramento set in 2006.

Wiggins was honored with the Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month award for her performance in June. For the month, she averaged 18.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 11 games.

A standout in her four years at Stanford, Wiggins was drafted No. 3 overall by the Lynx in the 2008 WNBA Draft, just days after leading the Cardinal to the NCAA Championship game. As a senior, she won the 2008 State Farm Wade Trophy as the national player of the year and was a four-time Kodak/WBCA All-America selection. She left Palo Alto, Calif. as the all-time leading scorer in both Stanford and Pac-10 history.

In honor of being named the Sixth Woman of the Year, Wiggins will receive $5,000 and a specially-designed trophy from Tiffany & Co.

Below are the results of the 2008 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year voting:

2008 WNBA SIXTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR RESULTS
Votes Player Team
27 Candice Wiggins Minnesota Lynx
10 Plenette Pierson Detroit Shock
2 Tanisha Wright Seattle Storm
1 Kara Braxton Detroit Shock
1 Tiffany Jackson New York Liberty
1 Barbara Turner Connecticut Sun

About the WNBA
Comprised of 14 teams, the WNBA is the most successful women's professional team sports league in the world. The WNBA concluded its 12th regular season with increases in key metrics including attendance, ratings and web traffic. The 2008 WNBA Playoffs presented by adidas began Thursday, Sept. 18 when both the Eastern and Western Conference Semifinals tipped off with games airing on ESPN2 and NBA TV.

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