Connecticut's Tina Charles and Phoenix's Candice Dupree Named WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week
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| Tina Charles and Candice Dupree take home Player of the Week honors NBAE/Getty Images |
NEW YORK, June 20, 2011 – Tina Charles of the Connecticut Sun and Candice Dupree of the Phoenix Mercury, were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for regular season games played Monday, June 13 through Sunday, June 19.
While leading the Sun to a 2-0 record, Charles ranked first in the league in scoring with 28.5 ppg, and among Eastern Conference players, ranked first in field goal percentage (.632), and third in rebounds (11.0 rpg). This marks Charles’s second Player of the Week award in her career.
On June 16, Charles scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 79-71 win over the Washington Mystics. Three days later, she also recorded a career-high 31 points, while tying a franchise-record with 13 field goals, to go along with 12 rebounds in notching her second consecutive double-double in an 83-68 victory over the Chicago Sky. In her second season, the 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year is averaging 20.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
On the week, Dupree led the league with 15.0 rebounds per game. She also recorded her third consecutive double-double, the longest such streak of her career, which ties for third in the WNBA this season. Among Western Conference players, she ranked second in blocks (2.0 bpg) and sixth in scoring (19.5 ppg).
Her week was highlighted by setting a franchise record with 18 rebounds and scoring 21 points in a 93-89 victory over the Indiana Fever on June 19. It was the second 20-15 performance of her career, both coming with the Mercury. Dupree also scored 18 points and registered 12 rebounds, along with a block on June 17 against San Antonio.
The honor is Dupree’s fourth Player of the Week award in her career.
Other candidates for WNBA Players of the Week were Los Angeles’s Ebony Hoffman, Minnesota’s Seimone Augustus, San Antonio’s Sophia Young, Seattle’s Sue Bird, Tulsa’s Ivory Latta, and Washington’s Nicky Anosike.
