Angel Reese Grabs 26 Boards, Shatters WNBA Rebounding Records in Dream Rout

Angel Reese pulled down 26 rebounds Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, breaking the WNBA's single-game rebounding record and pushing her season total to 458 boards to also claim the single-season mark, as the Atlanta Dream beat the Los Angeles Sparks 78-71. The performance capped a perfect 4-0 West Coast road trip for Atlanta and came in a season that began with Reese landing in Atlanta via trade just months earlier.

Reese's 26 rebounds — 18 defensive and eight offensive — eclipsed the previous single-game standard of 24, set by Chamique Holdsclaw for the Washington Mystics against the Charlotte Sting back on May 23, 2003, according to Guinness World Records. Her season total of 458 rebounds also passed the single-season record of 451 boards that A'ja Wilson set during her unanimous 2024 MVP campaign with the Las Vegas Aces, a season in which Wilson also became the first WNBA player to top 1,000 points, per the Las Vegas Aces. As reported by The New York Times, Reese also added 11 points and three steals in the win, shooting 9 of 9 from the field.

A Blockbuster Trade Pays Off Fast

Reese's arrival in Atlanta traces back to April 6, when the Chicago Sky sent her to the Dream in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2028 and a 2028 second-round pick swap, a move Hoodline covered in Chicago's risky rebuild gamble. Three weeks later, the Dream exercised Reese's fourth-year contract option through 2027, raising her base salary to $350,692 under the WNBA's updated rookie scale, according to CBS News Atlanta. Fan enthusiasm was immediate: within four hours of the trade announcement, the Dream sold half as many jerseys as the franchise moved during the entire 2025 season, per prior Hoodline reporting.

The New York Times notes that Reese has now led the WNBA in rebounds per game in each of her three professional seasons and owns the three highest single-season rebounding averages in league history, with no other player ever having averaged 12 rebounds per game over a career. She averaged 13.1 rebounds per game as a rookie in 2024, when she grabbed 446 rebounds in 34 games before a wrist injury cut her season short — a mark that itself set the WNBA rookie single-season rebounding record, according to earlier Hoodline coverage of her rookie campaign.

Dream Teammates Add Their Own Milestones

Reese wasn't the only Dream player making history in the win. Guard Allisha Gray set a franchise record for field goals in a single season with 247, while guard Rhyne Howard surpassed 3,000 career WNBA points in the same game, according to the Atlanta Dream. The win also marked the Dream's ninth consecutive victory over the Sparks in head-to-head matchups, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.

The 78-71 victory completed Atlanta's perfect 4-0 road trip and pushed the Dream to 25-13, putting the team within a half-game of third place in the overall WNBA standings with six games left, per the Dream's own recap. Atlanta has clinched a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season, and the win came despite the Sparks out-rebounding their opponents on paper with 32 boards of their own. Dream head coach Karl Smesko said Reese has been exceptional lately and is hitting her stride, per the Times.

A Milestone Season Building Toward the World Stage

Reese's rebounding surge this year has come with other markers of a breakout third season. Earlier in the campaign, on May 27, she became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 850 rebounds and 950 points, doing so in just 69 games, according to Essentially W. She also earned Associated Press Player of the Week honors during the season, and posted other standout stat lines, including 21 points and 10 rebounds in a win over the Las Vegas Aces, 10 rebounds and eight assists against the Sparks in an earlier meeting, and 31 points, 14 rebounds and four steals against the Phoenix Mercury.

Beyond the WNBA regular season, Reese is set to make her first postseason appearance with the Dream and will represent Team USA at the FIBA World Cup next month, marking her first appearance with the senior national team. Her trajectory since being traded to Atlanta has now produced two league rebounding records inside a single season with the franchise, following a rookie year that already reset the rookie rebounding mark.