Seattle's Lauren Jackson and Indiana's Tamika Catchings Voted Players of the Week for the Western and Eastern Conferences

Lauren Jackson receives her fifth Player of the Week honors this season, while Tamika Catchings picks up her first NBAE/Getty Images

NEW YORK, July 19, 2010 � Two of the WNBA�s most tenured superstars shined the brightest this past week as the Seattle Storm�s Lauren Jackson and the Indiana Fever�s Tamika Catchings � the first and third selections of the 2001 Draft, respectively � were named the WNBA�s Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week presented by Kia Motors, respectively, for games played Monday, July 12 through Sunday, July 18.

This marks the first season that Kia Motors � an official WNBA marketing partner � has presented the WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week award.

By winning the Player of the Week presented by Kia Motors award for the fifth time in the first nine weeks of the 2010 season, Jackson extends her own WNBA record for such honors to 19 and ties her mark for the most Player of the Week awards in a single season. The Australian native also was selected as the Western Conference Player of the Month presented by Kia Motors for both May and June.

Jackson, who ranks second in the WNBA in scoring (22.1 ppg) and sixth in both rebounds (9.4 rpg) and blocks (1.53 bpg) thus far in 2010, led Seattle to a 2-0 mark during the week. The wins, including a triple-overtime thriller at Phoenix, extended the Storm�s record to 18-2, equaling the second best start in WNBA history. In the process, the 10th-year WNBA star increased her string of consecutive games scoring 20-or-more points to six.

A two-time winner of the WNBA Most Valuable Player presented by Kia Motors (2003 and 2007), Jackson missed one game after suffering a concussion at Los Angeles July 3, but returned to action with 31 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks in a win over the defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury. She followed that up with 26 points, 7 rebounds, and four blocks in a win at Minnesota. For the week, Jackson led the league in rebounds (12.5 rpg) and blocks (3.0 bpg), and finished second in scoring (28.5 ppg) behind only Diana Taurasi.

With her first Player of the Week presented by Kia Motors award of the season, Catchings extends her career total for such honors to 13, third best in WNBA history behind only Jackson (19) and Lisa Leslie (15).

By leading the league in steals (3.0 spg), tying for fourth in rebounds (10.0 rpg), and ranking sixth in scoring (22.3 ppg) during the week, Catchings helped the Fever to a 2-1 mark and into first place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-7 record overall. Her double-doubles in wins over conference rivals Atlanta and New York give her four on the season and 64 in her WNBA career, placing her just one behind Taj McWilliams-Franklin for seventh place on the WNBA's all-time career list.

With her 22 points at New York, Catchings registered 20-or-more points for the fourth straight game and finished as Indiana�s leading scorer for the sixth time in as many contests. It was in the game at New York that the University of Tennessee product scored 16 of her points in the final 10:48 of the game, including 9 of the team's 11 points in overtime as Indiana engineered a come-from-behind win.

Other candidates for WNBA Player of the Week presented by Kia Motors were Los Angeles� Tina Thompson, New York�s Cappie Pondexter, Phoenix�s Candice Dupree, San Antonio�s Becky Hammon, Tulsa�s Ivory Latta and Washington�s Crystal Langhorne.

The WNBA Western and Eastern Conference Player of the Week presented by Kia Motors are part of a series of oncourt performance awards called The WNBA Performance Awards Presented by Kia Motors. The series, currently in its second season, includes four of the WNBA's most prestigious year-end honors: Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Sixth Woman of the Year, along with the WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month. Kia Motors has been an official WNBA marketing partner since 2008.

For more information on this week's Players of the Week presented by Kia Motors winners, visit www.wnba.com/awards.