ATLANTA (September 26, 2015) – The Atlanta Dream’s Angel McCoughtry and Sancho Lyttle were each recognized as members of the WNBA All-Defensive Teams, which were announced by the league on Sunday.

McCoughtry (39 points/guard) was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team, where she was joined by WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Brittney Griner (Phoenix/55 points/center), Tamika Catchings (Indiana/51 points/forward) Briann January (Indiana/42 points/forward) and Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles/18 points/guard).

Lyttle (17 points/forward) was selected to the WNBA All-Defensive second team along with Kiah Stokes (New York/36 points/center), Tanisha Wright (New York/25 points/guard), Tina Charles (New York/14 points/forward) and DeWanna Bonner (Phoenix/24 points/forward).

The teams were selected by a panel of the WNBA’s 12 head coaches, who selected First and Second Teams by position.  Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own teams.  Players earned five points for each First Team vote and three points for each Second Team vote.

For McCoughtry, the All-Defensive Team nod is her sixth overall and fifth to the First Team.  The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm placed second in the WNBA in steals (2.12) this season and recorded three or more 14 times.

Lyttle was previously named to the First Team twice and to the Second Team three times.  She led the league with 2.25 steals and ranked seventh in defensive rebounding (5.5) in 2015.

2015 WNBA All-Defensive First Team

Player                         Team                           Position                Points

Brittney Griner            Phoenix Mercury        Center                          55

Tamika Catchings       Indiana Fever              Forward                       51

Briann January            Indiana Fever              Guard                          42

Angel McCoughtry      Atlanta Dream             Guard                          39

Nneka  Ogwumike       Los Angeles Sparks     Forward                     18

2015 WNBA All-Defensive Second Team

Player                         Team                                       Position          Points

Kiah Stokes                  New York Liberty                    Center                   36

Tanisha Wright           New York Liberty                    Guard                    25

DeWanna Bonner       Phoenix Mercury                    Guard                    24

Sancho Lyttle               Atlanta Dream                        Forward                 17

Tina Charles                New York Liberty                    Forward                 14

The three-time Eastern Conference Champion Atlanta Dream is entering its ninth season in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

The Dream plays their home games at Philips Arena.  Atlanta has qualified for the playoffs six times, winning conference titles in 2013, 2011 and 2010.