ATLANTA – Atlanta Dream center Elizabeth Williams and forward-guard Betnijah Laney were both named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team, the league announced on Tuesday.
Williams led the team with 30 blocks, the third-most across the league, while her 1.4 blocks per game ranked fifth in the WNBA. This season she became the Dream’s all-time blocks leader, surpassing 300 in her five-year career in Atlanta.
Laney’s 35 total steals led the Dream and ranked seventh in the league this season. The 2020 WNBA and AP Most Improved Player finished the season with career-high averages of 1.6 steals and 4.9 total rebounds per game, adding on to her impressive 17.2 points and 4.0 assists per game.
This marks the first time the Dream had two players on the All-Defensive First Team since 2014 (Sancho Lyttle and Angel McCoughtry), and only the third time multiple players have been featured on the First Team in franchise history.
2020 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM
Position Player, Team 1st Team 2nd Team Points
Guard Alysha Clark, Seattle 11 0 55
Guard Betnijah Laney, Atlanta 7 4 47
Forward Brianna Turner, Phoenix 8 1 43
Forward Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut 6 3 39
Center Elizabeth Williams, Atlanta 3 3 24
2020 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM
Position Player, Team 1st Team 2nd Team Points
Forward Breanna Stewart, Seattle 3 6 33
Forward Napheesa Collier, Minnesota 3 5 30
Guard Ariel Atkins, Washington 2 5 25
Guard Brittney Sykes, Los Angeles 0 8 24
Center A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas 3 2 21
The 2021 season marks the organization’s 14th in the WNBA. The Dream have qualified for the playoffs nine times, winning conference titles in 2013, 2011 and 2010.