Tina Charles #31 Center

Background

Career: The 2012 WNBA MVP and 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Charles is the fastest player in the history of the league to reach 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1,000 and 1,100 career rebounds…She is also the only player in league history to record three 20-point, 20-rebound games…Her 63 career double-doubles ranks No. 1 in franchise history, ninth in WNBA history…She ranks No. 1 all-time in WNBA career rebounding average (11.1), ahead of Cheryl Ford (9.7), Candace Parker (9.5), Sylvia Fowles (9.4) and Lisa Leslie (9.1)…After just 101 games, she already stands fourth all-time in Sun history in total rebounds (1,117), and defensive rebounds (739), and is third in offensive rebounds (378)…Has the two highest single-season rebounding totals (398 in 2010, 374 in 2011) in WNBA history…She has led the league in rebounding three straight seasons…She set a single-season WNBA record with 23 double-doubles in 2011, breaking her own record of 22, set in 2010…She was honored with the 2012 Dawn Staley Leadership Award for her philanthropic endeavors…She has been named WNBA Player of the Week nine times in her career.

2012 WNBA Season: Appeared in 33 games with 33 starts…Set a new franchise scoring record, averaging 18 points per game…Became the first player in WNBA history to record a third 20-20 game, collecting 23 points and 22 rebounds in a win at Atlanta (6/17)…Won her third straight rebounding title, averaging 10.5 rebounds per game…Her 345 rebounds (in 33 games) rank No. 1 in the WNBA and third in franchise history behind her totals in 2010 and 2011…Led the Sun in scoring, rebounding, made field goals, field goal attempts and minutes…Finished tied for first in the league with 18 double-doubles…Fell one rebound short of a double-double on three occasions, two rebounds short of a double-double on six other occasions…Led the WNBA with 250 made field goals…Ranked No. 1 in offensive rebounds (123)…Ranked second in defensive rebounds (222)…Ranked second in blocks (47)…Ranked third in total minutes (1,096) despite sitting out the first game of her career at Phoenix (9/12)…Streak of 97 straight starts ended with DND at Phoenix…Led the Sun in rebounding 22 times, outright, shared for the lead on five other occasions…Led the Sun in scoring 16 times…Scored in double figures 31 times…Set franchise record for consecutive games scoring in double figures with 23 straight, spanning the last 12 games of 2011 and the first 11 games of 2012…Closed the season with 13 straight double-figure scoring games…Had four straight double-doubles during crucial 3-1 road trip through Chicago, San Antonio, Atlanta and Washington from 8/28-9/4 that helped clinch first place in the Eastern Conference…Recorded the second 30-point game of her career against Washington (6/3)…Broke the franchise record for double-doubles in a career with her 51st, against Los Angeles (6/13).
In The Playoffs: Averaged 18.6 points and 10 rebounds in five games…Had two double-doubles, including 25 points and 14 rebounds in Game 2 at New York, when the Sun clinched the first-round sweep…Led the Sun in scoring in four of five playoff games.

2011 WNBA Season: A leading contender for WNBA MVP…Broke her own WNBA record for double-doubles, finishing with 23…Led the league in total rebounds (374) and rebound average (11.0)…Rebound total was the second highest in WNBA history, behind the 398 she collected in 2010…Set new franchise records for made field goals (254), field goal attempts (543), points (600) and scoring average (17.6)…Set a franchise record with eight games of 10 or more made field goals…Led the Sun in scoring and rebounding for the second straight year…Named WNBA Player of the Week four times…Earned second WNBA All-Star selection…Had 12 games with at least 20 points…Became the fastest player in WNBA history to record 400, 500, 600 and 700 career rebounds…Scored a career-high 31 points against Chicago (6/19)… Tied her career high with 13 made field goals against Chicago (6/19)…Became just the second player in league history to record more than one 20-20 game, finishing with 23 rebounds and 22 points against Los Angeles (6/28)…The 23 rebounds tied her single-game franchise record…Also tied a WNBA record with 16 second-half rebounds against LA (6/28)…Led the Sun in rebounding 25 times, including 18 of 19 games in one stretch…Shared the team-high for rebounds once…Led the Sun in scoring 19 times including six of the last seven games of the season…Started all 34 games…Played 1,136 minutes, second most in franchise history.
In The Playoffs: Recorded a double-double with 13 points and a post-season franchise-record 17 rebounds in Game 2 at Atlanta (9/18)…Averaged 12.5 points and 12 rebounds in the two-game series with Atlanta…Averaged a team-high 36 minutes.

2010 WNBA Season: Completed one of the best rookie seasons in WNBA history by recording her league-record 22nd double-double at New York (8/22)...Established a league record with 398 rebounds...Unanimous choice for WNBA Rookie of the Year…Led the Sun in scoring (15.5 ppg.), rebounds (11.7 rpg.) and blocks (1.68 per game)…Had 23 games with at least 10 rebounds…Had six consecutive double-doubles from 6/18-6/29, one short of the WNBA record…Recorded a WNBA rookie record 23 rebounds against Phoenix (6/25), the second highest single-game total in league history…Surpassed the previous single-game franchise rebound record (17) four times…Had 20 or more rebounds in three games…Established new franchise records for defensive (269) and offensive (129) rebounds…Scored a career-high 27 points at Atlanta (7/7)…Tied a franchise record with 13 made field goals at Los Angeles (6/18)…Had eight blocks against Washington (8/8), one short of the team record…Finished with a single-season total of 57 blocks, the fifth highest total in team history…Started all 34 games for the Sun.

Other Professional Experience: Played for Galatasarray of Turkey in FIBA Euroleague…Spent the 2010-11 offseason with Nadezhda Orenburg in Russia…Named a EuroLeague “Rest of the World” All-Star…Averaged 19.1 points and 9.5 rebounds in 16 Russian League games and 19.0 points and 12.3 rebounds in 12 EuroLeague games.

USA Basketball: Member of the 2010 USA Basketball World Championship team that posted a 9-0 record…Charles averaged 10.7 points playing just 16.4 minutes per game.

College: All-time leading scorer (2,346 points) and rebounder (1,367) in UConn history…Ranks third all-time with 304 career blocks…Scored in double figures 120 times, including 36 times in 39 games as a senior…Had 59 double-figure rebounding games, 15 as a senior…Scored 20 or more points 33 times in her career…Averaged 18.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in 2009-10...Recorded 52 career double-doubles, including 14 as a senior…Fourth fastest player to reach 1,000 points at UConn… Anchored back-to-back undefeated National Championship teams…Received almost universal recognition as the dominant women’s college basketball player in 2009-10…Received the John R. Wooden Award and the 2010 Naismith Trophy…Also honored as the Associated Press Player of the Year and the USBWA Player of the Year…Named 2010 BIG EAST Player of the Year…Posted top freshman totals ever at UConn with 81 blocks and 296 rebounds…Also had a UConn freshman record 11 double-doubles...Named USBWA National Freshman of the Year…Also the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.