Lisa Leslie Named WNBA Player of the Week

-- Breaks WNBA Record with Fourth Honor this Season --

 

NEW YORK, July 17, 2006 �Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks was named WNBA Player of the Week for games played Monday, July 10 through Sunday, July 16 (not including the All-Star game).  The two-time WNBA MVP becomes the first player in league history to garner the award four times in one season.  She holds a career total of 14 Player of the Week honors, the most by any player in the 10 years since the league�s inception.

 

With a pair of victories on the week, Leslie helped the Sparks extend their winning streak to five and maintain the best record in the Western Conference (18-5).  The Sparks are four games ahead of second-place Sacramento. 

 

Leslie recorded her 10th and 11th double-double of the season on July 14 and July 16, respectively, while averaging 29.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.0 steals, 2.0 blocks per game and shooting 57.9 percent from field goal range. 

 

In a 95-85 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on July 14, Leslie tallied 30 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks and a steal while knocking down 12-for-21 field-goals and 6-for-10 free throws.  Two days later she scored a game-high 29 points while grabbing 14 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists and shooting 10-for-17 field goals and 9-for-14 free throws to lead her team to a 90-78 win over the Minnesota Lynx. 

 

Leslie currently leads the league in total points (482), rebounds (224), free-throws (122), field goals made (177) and double-doubles (11). 

 

Were the regular season to end today, Leslie�s 21.0 points per game would rank as a career best.  Similarly, her 52.7 field-goal percentage would exceed her career average of 46.7 percent and the

career-best 49.4 percent she shot in 2004. 

 

Other candidates for WNBA Player of the Week were Charlotte�s Tangela Smith, Connecticut�s Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Detroit�s Cheryl Ford, Phoenix�s Diana Taurasi, Indiana�s Tamika Whitmore, Sacramento�s Yolanda Griffith, Seattle�s Lauren Jackson and Janell Burse and Washington�s Chasity Melvin.

 

2006 WNBA Player of the Week winners:

Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks � 5/30/06

Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx � 6/05/06

Cappie Pondexter, Phoenix Mercury � 6/12/-6

Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks � 6/19/06

Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks � 6/26/06

Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm � 7/05/06

Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury � 7/10/06

Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks � 7/17/06

 

About the WNBA

Featuring 14 teams and the greatest female basketball players from around the world, the WNBA is the longest-running and most successful women�s professional team sports league in U.S. history.  The WNBA�s 10th Anniversary season includes appointment viewing on Tuesday nights as ESPN2 will televise 14 WNBA games � including five doubleheaders � on Tuesdays this spring/summer.  WNBA games and programming also will be shown in 198 countries via 79 telecasters in 34 languages this season.  The 2006 WNBA All-Star Game took place on July 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.