NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 – The WNBA announced today that New York Liberty rookie forward Michaela Onyenwere has earned the Kia WNBA Rookie of the Month award for August. This marks Michaela’s third consecutive Rookie of the Month honor as the only rookie this season to garner the award. Since WNBA Rookie of the Month was instituted in 2010, only four players have swept the award for an entire season (A’ja Wilson 2018, Breanna Stewart 2016, Elena Delle Donne 2013, Tina Charles 2010).
Onyenwere, the Liberty’s sixth overall selection in the 2021 WNBA Draft, is currently leading all rookies in points per game (8.8), minutes per game (23.2), total field goals made (81) and three pointers made (34), while also sitting at No. 2 in average rebounds per game (3.0). Through her first 28 WNBA games, Onyenwere is shooting 38.8% from the field, 32.1% from beyond the arc and 85.0% at the free throw line.
Michaela averaged 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds through seven contests in the month of August, highlighted by her first career double-double of 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in Minnesota on August 31.