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On Thursday, news broke that South Carolina women’s basketball alum Kamilla Cardoso was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team. The WNBA’s official social media pages revealed the news.
Cardoso, who was the third pick of the WNBA Draft, missed the start of the season with a shoulder injury. Upon her return, the Chicago Sky rookie averaged 9.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 0.5 steals per game. She also converted 52.1% of her shot attempts into makes and knocked down 72.6% of her free throws.
Cardoso put up the second-most double-doubles in franchise history (trailing only teammate and fellow rookie Angel Reese). She finished the season with seven double-doubles, four of them coming over the final month of the 2024 campaign.
On the season, the Brazilian post player logged a high scoring total of 22 points, a career-best in rebounding of 14 boards, and blocked 5 shots in a game on two separate occasions.
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Despite missing some time and then taking a few weeks to get up to speed after returning to the floor, Cardoso finished tied for seventh in the WNBA in blocks per game with Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier. She also was 12th in the league in rebounding average and 13th in field goal efficiency. Both her block average and rebounding average were second among rookies. The 52.1% field goal percentage mark was tops among first-year players.
Cardoso’s frontcourt teammate Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Rickea Jackson, and Leonie Fiebich rounded out the WNBA All-Rookie squad. She also joins Aliyah Boston, A’ja Wilson, Allisha Gray, Kaela Davis, and Tiffany Mitchell as Gamecock alums to make WNBA All-Rookie teams.
During her South Carolina career, Cardoso was an All-American, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and a two-time champion.
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