Angel Reese gained two major rebounding milestones Monday, hauling in 26 boards to set a WNBA single-game record and reaching 458 rebounds for the season as the Atlanta Dream beat the Los Angeles Sparks 78-71. Reese collected 18 defensive and eight offensive rebounds and scored 11 points in the victory, producing her 27th double-double of the campaign.
The single-season total supplanted the previous benchmark of 451 rebounds, set by A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces in 2024. Atlanta still has six regular-season games remaining, so Reese's new mark will grow as the schedule closes. Teammate Allisha Gray said she was stunned when she checked the box score, adding, "I was looking at the stat thing and I'm like, 'Dang, 20 something.' I don't think in my life I got more than 10 rebounds. So that's just a talent. I'm just in awe just watching her rebound."
Reese entered this season averaging a double-double for a third straight year, with career-high per-game numbers of 16.1 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists through 37 games. She leads the league in rebounds per game, total rebounds (458), offensive rebounds (5.0 per game) and double-doubles (27), a statistical profile that has turned her into the WNBA's most consistent interior force this year.
Her rise began in college at LSU and continued into the WNBA after she was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 draft by the Chicago Sky. In her rookie season she produced a run of 15 straight double-doubles, the longest streak since Candace Parker's 12 across 2009 and 2010, set a single-season franchise rebound record of 446 for the Sky, and became the fastest player in the league to reach 20 double-doubles in a campaign.
Reese moved to Atlanta in the offseason after two seasons in Chicago and has continued to break marks. She recorded her 57th career double-double on June 9, setting a WNBA record for most double-doubles through a player's first 75 games. That total tied Blake Griffin for the second-most over that span when NBA numbers are included, with Shaquille O'Neal the only player to have more at 63 over the past 40 years, according to ESPN. Reese credited Atlanta coach Karl Smesko for his role in her development, saying he "put confidence in me every day" and that, "He works with my shooting every single day." She added that teammates push her, noting, "They get mad at me when I don't shoot it."
Additional milestones this season include reaching 900 rebounds in only 71 games on May 29, the fastest to that threshold in WNBA history, and scoring the 1,000th point of her career in a 91-75 win over the Connecticut Sun on June 2. With the Dream heading into the final stretch of the regular season, Reese's new records will shape how opponents defend the paint and how her legacy develops in the league.
