Montgomery Named to 2009 Adidas All-Rookie Team


The WNBA today announced that Lynx first-year guard Renee Montgomery has been named to the 2009 adidas All-Rookie Team. Minnesota's first-round draft pick, fourth overall, in the 2009 WNBA Draft, Montgomery joins Phoenix's DeWanna Bonner, Washington's Marissa Coleman, Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry and Detroit's Shavonte Zellous on the 2009 adidas All-Rookie Team. The voting panel consisted of the WNBA's 13 head coaches, who were asked to select five players regardless of position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team.

Montgomery appeared in all 34 games of her first WNBA season, including nine starts, while logging 22.5 mpg. The five-foot-seven guard finished the 2009 season fifth among rookies in scoring (9.0 ppg), fourth in assists (2.1 apg) and fifth in steals (0.74 spg), while leading all first-year players in three-pointers made with 42. The Charleston, West Virginia, native shot 40.8 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from beyond the arc (fourth among rookies, 25th in the WNBA) and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line (third among rookies, 22nd in the WNBA).

"While I'm never satisfied, it's a great honor to be recognized for my performance in my first year in the league," said Montgomery. "This is a great class of rookies and I'm truly blessed to have my name included among them. I couldn't have done it without the help of my teammates and our coaching staff. We have a young team that is only going to get better. I can't wait to come back next year and build on the momentum we established this season."

Montgomery paced the Lynx in scoring three times and led in assists on seven occasions. The former University of Connecticut Huskie posted 11 double-figure scoring efforts in 2009, including a pair of 20+ nights. Montgomery's most notable game came when she scored 18 of her 21 points in the final 8:07 (including OT) of a 96-94 OT win over Washington back on July 7, 2009. In that game she also posted season bests in free-throws made (nine) and attempted (11). For the season, Montgomery tallied 45 percent of her total points (138 of 306) in the fourth quarter and OT.

Montgomery's selection marks the fourth consecutive year the Lynx have had a representative on the All-Rookie Team. Seimone Augustus (2006), Lindsey Harding (2007) Nicky Anosike and Candice Wiggins (2008) were also named to all-first-year squads.
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