Elena Delle Donne leads WNBA first team

Chicago Sky star Elena Delle Donne continues to rack up honors in the WNBA.

After earning league MVP honors last month, Delle Donne was a unanimous choice for the WNBA first team in voting announced Thursday. It's the first time in her young career that Delle Donne has been chosen as one of the best five players in the league.

"It's an awesome honor to be named amongst such incredible players. It was a fun season, and I think it reflects a really great season," said Delle Donne, who is training with USA Basketball in Europe. "Unfortunately, we didn't get where we wanted to be, but there is a lot to improve upon, so that's exciting as well."

The Sky lost to the Indiana Fever in the conference semifinals.

Delle Donne averaged 23.4 points per game, scoring at least 40 twice. She shot 95 percent from the free throw line and finished third in the WNBA in rebounding.

She received 39 first-team votes from a national panel of writers and broadcasters.

Joining her on the first team were Maya Moore of Minnesota, Tina Charles of New York, DeWanna Bonner of Phoenix and Angel McCoughtry of Atlanta.

The second team was headlined by Brittney Griner, who missed the first seven games of the season while serving a suspension for a domestic violence arrest. Other members of the second team were Candace Parker of Los Angeles, Tamika Catchings of Indiana, Epiphanny Prince of New York and Courtney Vandersloot of Chicago.

Parker sat out the first half of the season to rest her body, and Prince missed the first 10 games of the season playing for Russia in an Olympic qualifier.

Catchings was honored for the 12th time in her career. She didn't make it last season or in 2008 when she was injured.

"At this stage of my career, to be among the 10 best players in the league is a blessing," Catchings said.

Each player receives a trophy, and first-team members are awarded $10,000. Second-team players receive a $5,000 bonus.