Dream's McCoughtry, Shock's Williams Named WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week

Official Release

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2013 -- Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream and Riquna Williams of the Tulsa Shock were named the WNBA�s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Sept. 2 through Sunday, Sept. 8.

McCoughtry led the Eastern Conference in scoring last week, averaging 21.8 points as Atlanta went 3-1. Her 4.5 assists per game tied for first in the East, while her 2.5 steals per game ranked third. This marks McCoughtry�s fourth Player of the Week award of the season and 11th of her career.

In a Sept. 2 win over Los Angeles, McCoughtry scored 16 points and dished out four assists in a 92-82 final. On Sept. 4, she poured in 30 points while adding eight assists, both game highs, in addition to nine rebounds to help defeat Indiana 89-80 in overtime. She scored five points in the extra period to propel the Dream to its fifth-consecutive postseason berth. Two days later, McCoughtry scored 16 points in a 70-57 road win over New York. She became the third-youngest player to reach the 3,000-point plateau, accomplishing the feat four days before her 27th birthday. She reached the milestone in 154 games, tying for third fewest in WNBA history. On Sept. 8, McCoughtry scored another 25 points and broke the Dream�s single-season record for steals. Her 85 steals this season paces the WNBA.

Williams capped her week by scoring a WNBA-record 51 points in San Antonio on Sunday. For the week, she led the league in scoring with 34.5 points per game and tied for first in free-throw percentage, converting all 13 opportunities from the charity stripe. This marks her first Player of the Week honor.

Williams� record-setting game to beat San Antonio featured 17-for-28 shooting from the field including 8-for-14 from three-point land. She scored eight points in each of the first two quarters before erupting for 20 in the third and 15 in the fourth as the Shock emerged victorious by a 98-65 final score. The 51-point effort surpassed the previous mark of 47 set by Phoenix�s Diana Taurasi in 2006 and Seattle�s Lauren Jackson in 2007. Two days earlier, Williams scored 18 points while pulling down seven rebounds in a losing effort to Los Angeles, 74-70.

Other candidates for WNBA Players of the Week were Chicago�s Elena Delle Donne and Epiphanny Prince and Connecticut�s Tan White in the East, as well as Phoenix�s Taurasi and San Antonio�s Danielle Adams in the West.