Chicago Sky’s Sylvia Fowles and Minnesota Lynx’s Rebekkah Brunson named ‘WNBA Players of the Week’
Chicago Sky centre Sylvia Fowles and Minnesota Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson have been named as players of the week in the Eastern and Western Conference respectively, for the games played from July 11 to July 17.
The duo grabbed the weekly honours from a list of players including Los Angeles Spark's Kristi Toliver, New York Liberty’s Kia Vaughn, Phoenix Sun’s Diana Taurasi and Washington Mystics’ Matee Ajavon.
Sylvia Fowles
Fowles, 25, marshalled the Sky to a 1-1 record during the week, averaging 20.5 points and 12 rebounds per contest. In the week under the spotlight, the 6ft 6in centre paced league with 12.0 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game. In
addition to that, she tied for fifth position in the East in field goal percentage on a 16 for 32 shooting, and ranked seventh in free-throw percentage, hitting 9 for 11 from the line.
Fowles, who is averaging 20.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game this season, has bagged the weekly award for the third time in her three year career. In this season though, this is first time, she has actually
managed to win it after being nominated time and again.
Fowles’ most significant effort came in a 72-54 victory this past Wednesday over the slumping Tulsa Shock. The two-time WNBA All-star poured in a game-high 21 points, on an 8 for 17 shooting from the field and 5 for 6 from free
throw line and also cleaned the glass with 13 rebounds.
Two days later, she set a new personal and team record with a game best eight blocks in Chicago’s 76-68 defeat to Atlanta Dream. Fowles recoded a double-double with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds that night.
Rebekkah Brunson
Brunson helped Minnesota to a 2-1 record on the week. The 29-year-old forward shot at 61.1 percent from the floor and ended with fifth position in the West in scoring with 17.3 points per game. The seven-year veteran, who is averaging
13.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game this season, also finished as third in the league with 10.0 rebounds per game.
The award marks the second time this season, Brunson has won the award, having previously earned the honour on June 12.
In the first game of the week on July 13, Brunson registered her eighth double-double of this season with 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds in a 112-105 defeat to Phoenix Mercury at Target Center. The player pinned 6 of
6 free throws and blocked two shots in the game.
Two nights later, she erupted with 20 points, on a 10 for 15 shooting from the field, and grabbed eight rebounds as Lynx ended Indiana Fever’s winning streak with an 80-70 win. The very next night, Brunson, the WNBA Champion for
2005, tallied 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to beat Seattle Storm 69-62.
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