Ariel Atkins named to WNBA All-Defensive Team

Former Texas women's basketball standout Ariel Atkins on Tuesday was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team for the third consecutive year, the league announced.

Atkins was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and quickly established herself a starter in the Mystics' lineup. She played a key role in the team's 2019 WNBA Championship.

Atkins also earned spots on the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2018 and 2019, and was a member of the WNBA's All-Rookie Team in 2018.

This season, Atkins finished third in the WNBA in steals per game with 1.77. In 2020, she played in 22 games with 22 starts, averaging 14.8 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per game. The Washington Mystics advanced to the 2020 WNBA Playoffs with the No. 8 seed before falling in the first round.

Atkins was a three-time All-Big 12 Conference player and a four-time member of the Academic All-Big 12 teams at Texas. She played in 121 career games with 100 starts, scoring in double figures on 81 occasions. She scored 1,497 career points and finished with a career free-throw percentage of 83.1

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics