Sept. 12, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC - Former Georgetown University women's basketball standout Rebekkah Brunson (Oxon Hill, MD) helped lead the Sacramento Monarchs to the WNBA Championship Finals where they will meet the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, September 14. Brunson has tallied 32 points, 23 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks over four playoff games.
To reach the Finals, the Monarchs defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 75-72 in Game 1, then 81-63 in Game 2. Sacramento met the Houston Comets in the Conference Finals and came away with a 73-69 victory in Game 1, and a 74-65 win in Game 2.
Brunson has played in 38 games this season, starting in 20. The 6'3" forward is averaging 8.0 points per game. She is ranked eighth in rebounds per game (6.0); tied for eighth in total rebounds (24); and tied for 14th in offensive (1.8) and defensive (1.8) rebounds.
Brunson was chosen 10th by the Sacramento Monarchs in the 2004 WNBA draft. She is the first Hoya ever to be drafted in the first round and just the second Georgetown player to be drafted by a WNBA team. Katie Smrcka-Duffy was a second-round selection in the 2001 draft by the Sacramento Monarchs.
Brunson is the only Georgetown women's basketball player to ever earn AP All-America honors, being named to the 2003-04 Honorable Mention team. She is a two-time All-BIG EAST First Team selection and was named the league's 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and the 2001 Rookie of the Year. This season Brunson became the first player in BIG EAST history to lead the league in scoring (20.4 ppg) and rebounding (11.3 rpg). She owns all of Georgetown's rebounding records, career rebounds (1,093), season rebounds (336) and single game rebounds (22) and ranks second on the career scoring list (1,762). Brunson finished her four years with 50 double-doubles, eight BIG EAST Player of the Week awards and six BIG EAST Rookie of the Week awards.
For the first time in history, the WNBA Finals will be a best-of-five series, with the Sun hosting games 1, 2 and 5 if necessary. Game 1 tips off on Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00 p.m., while Game 2 takes place on Thursday, September 15, at 8:00 p.m. The series swings to Sacramento for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday, September 18, at 4:00 p.m. and Tuesday, September 20 (game time TBD). Game 5 will be played on Thursday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m. All games, with the exception of Game 3, will be broadcast on ESPN2. Game 3 will be carried by ABC.
