New York’s Charles and Minnesota's Fowles Named WNBA Players of the Week


NEW YORK, July 24, 2017 Tina Charles of the New York Liberty and Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx today were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played July 17-23.

Charles earned Player of the Week honors for the 24th time in her eight seasons, extending her record for the most such awards in WNBA history.  This marks her third Player of the Week award this season.

In New York’s one game last week, Charles finished with game highs of 28 points and 17 rebounds as the Liberty defeated the visiting Connecticut Sun 96-80 on July 19 to move within one game of the Sun and Washington Mystics for first place in the Eastern Conference.  With 15 defensive rebounds, the 2012 WNBA Most Valuable Player equaled her season high set five days earlier against the Chicago Sky.

Fowles was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time this season.  She raised her career total to 11 Player of the Week awards in 10 seasons.

Minnesota went 1-0 for the week behind Fowles, who posted game highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds in a 100-74 home victory over the Dallas Wings on July 19.  The 2015 Finals MVP made 10-of-11 shots from the field to help the Lynx improve its WNBA-leading record to 16-2.

Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were the Atlanta Dream’s Brittney Sykes, Chicago’s Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike, the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart and Washington’s Kristi Toliver.

For more information on the WNBA Players of the Week, visit www.wnba.com/awards.

The 2017 WNBA regular season runs through Sept. 3.  For more information on the WNBA and game tickets, fans may visit www.wnba.com.

2017 WNBA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Week Ending       East Player                Team                         West Player                       Team

5/21/17                  Layshia Clarendon       Atlanta                    Sylvia Fowles                       Minnesota

5/28/17                  Epiphanny Prince        New York                Sylvia Fowles                       Minnesota

6/4/17                    Tina Charles                New York                Diana Taurasi                       Phoenix

6/11/17                  Tina Charles                New York                Sylvia Fowles                       Minnesota

6/18/17                  Jonquel Jones              Connecticut            Candace Parker                  Los Angeles

6/25/17                  Alyssa Thomas            Connecticut            Skylar Diggins-Smith           Dallas

7/2/17                    Jasmine Thomas         Connecticut            Candace Parker                  Los Angeles

7/9/17                    Alyssa Thomas            Connecticut            Brittney Griner                     Phoenix

7/16/17                  Stefanie Dolson           Chicago                  Breanna Stewart                  Seattle

7/23/17                  Tina Charles                New York                Sylvia Fowles                       Minnesota