Sykes Named WNBA All-Defensive Second Team
8/30/2022 1:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
For the third-straight season Syracuse alumna Brittney Sykes '17 is a WNBA All-Defensive Team selection. Sykes was named to the All-Defensive Second Team, announced by the WNBA on Tuesday.
In 2020, her first season with the Los Angeles Sparks, Sykes earned All-Defensive Second Team honors and followed that up with a First Team selection in 2021 as well as finishing second in votes for Defensive Player of the Year.
Sykes led the WNBA in steals (65) and steals per game (2.0) in 2022, career-highs for the Orange great, now in her sixth professional season in the league. She was the WNBA's leader in steals in both 2021 and 2022 becoming just the third player in league history to do so, joining Teresa Weatherspoon and Tamika Catchings.
The 2017 SU graduate added a career-high 0.7 blocks per game this season, which ranked top-three among guards in the WNBA. She also added career highs in points per game (12.7) and assists per game (3.7).
Sykes, the highest draft pick in Syracuse history, was selected seventh overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2017 WNBA Draft. She was traded to Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2020 and has been a key component on the Sparks roster since making the move to the West Coast.
Sykes is known for her pressure defense, which was essential in Syracuse's 2016 run to the NCAA National Championship game. At the time of her graduation, she ranked third in school history in career points (1,846), first in career starts (137), and was a 2017 WBCA Division I Coaches All-America Honorable Mention selection.
In 2020, her first season with the Los Angeles Sparks, Sykes earned All-Defensive Second Team honors and followed that up with a First Team selection in 2021 as well as finishing second in votes for Defensive Player of the Year.
Sykes led the WNBA in steals (65) and steals per game (2.0) in 2022, career-highs for the Orange great, now in her sixth professional season in the league. She was the WNBA's leader in steals in both 2021 and 2022 becoming just the third player in league history to do so, joining Teresa Weatherspoon and Tamika Catchings.
The 2017 SU graduate added a career-high 0.7 blocks per game this season, which ranked top-three among guards in the WNBA. She also added career highs in points per game (12.7) and assists per game (3.7).
Sykes, the highest draft pick in Syracuse history, was selected seventh overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2017 WNBA Draft. She was traded to Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2020 and has been a key component on the Sparks roster since making the move to the West Coast.
Sykes is known for her pressure defense, which was essential in Syracuse's 2016 run to the NCAA National Championship game. At the time of her graduation, she ranked third in school history in career points (1,846), first in career starts (137), and was a 2017 WBCA Division I Coaches All-America Honorable Mention selection.
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