NEW YORK, JUNE 27 – Lindsay Whalen of the Connecticut Sun was named the WNBA Player of the Week for her role in helping the Sun win three of its four games during a West Coast trip which included games at Los Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento and Phoenix. This is the first WNBA Player of the Week honor for Whalen.

Whalen started the week by posting 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in a 90-70 victory over Los Angeles last Monday. In a tough, 95-86, loss to Seattle on Wednesday, Whalen finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists. Whalen concluded the road trip with eight points, five rebounds and five assists in a 61-50 victory at Sacramento and then had a career high of 20 points as well as five rebounds in Connecticut’s 77-69 victory at Phoenix on Saturday. Whalen made all 12 of her foul shots in the win against the Mercury.

Whalen, who has helped Connecticut post a 10-2 record, is currently third in the league in assists with an average of 5.7 per game, is ranked tenth in free throws with 47 and is averaging 11.0 points per game.

Other candidates for WNBA Player of the Week were Charlotte’s Tammy Sutton-Brown, Detroit’s Deanna Nolan, Houston’s Michelle Snow, Indiana’s Kelly Miller, Sacramento’s DeMya Walker, San Antonio’s Katie Feenstra, and Washington’s DeLisha Milton-Jones.

The 2005 WNBA All-Star Game will be hosted by the Connecticut Sun on Saturday, July 9 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ABC at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

The WNBA tipped off its ninth season on Saturday, May 21, 2005 under the leadership of new President Donna Orender. In 2004, for the sixth consecutive season, more than two million fans attended WNBA games. Also in 2004, three consecutive WNBA Finals sellout crowds witnessed the Seattle Storm defeat the Connecticut Sun to capture its first WNBA Championship. WNBA programming is broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and NBA-TV.