NEW YORK – Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream and Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played May 23 through May 29.

McCoughtry earned the Player of the Week honor for the 14^th time in her career.  The two-time WNBA scoring champion and four-time All-Star helped the Dream win all three of its games last week as Atlanta surged to the top spot in the East with a 5-1 record.  For the week, the former University of Louisville standout ranked second among Eastern Conference players in scoring (21 ppg), tied for seventh in rebounding (6.7 apg) and was eighth in steals (1.67 spg). Thus far in 2016 she ranks sixth in the WNBA in scoring (19 ppg).

The eighth-year pro tipped off her week with 15 points, five rebounds, and two steals in an 85-79 win at the New York Liberty on May 24. Three days later she tallied 26 points, nine boards, four assists, and a pair of steals in a 102-93 victory over the host Dallas Wings. McCoughry capped the week with a 22-point, six-rebound effort that led Atlanta past the visiting Indiana Fever, 85-76, on May 29.

Parker, the 2008 and 2013 WNBA MVP, earned the Player of the Week award for the 16^th time in her nine-year career.   The University of Tennessee product led the Sparks to road wins in their two games as they improved to 5-0.  Los Angeles and the Minnesota Lynx share the top spot in the West and remain the league’s only unbeaten teams.

Through five games, Parker ranks fourth in the WNBA in scoring (20.8 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (7.8 rpg).   For the week, she paced all Western Conference players in scoring (24 ppg) and tied for seventh in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg).  Behind her 26 points, nine boards, three assists, and two steals, Los Angeles opened its week with a 93-80 win over the Chicago Sky in a nationally televised contest on ESPN2 on May 24.  She then followed that with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists in a 77-72 win at the Connecticut Sun on May 26.

Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Tiffany Hayes, Chicago’s Elena Delle Donne and Jamierra Faulkner, Minnesota’s Maya Moore, New York’s Tina Charles, the San Antonio Stars’ Haley Peters, and the Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd.

For more information on this week’s Players of the Week, visit www.wnba.com/awards.

2016 WNBA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Week Ending    East Player                    Team                West Player               Team

5/22/16               Tina Charles                   New York         Maya Moore               Minnesota

5/29/16               Angel McCoughtry         Atlanta              Candace Parker         Los Angeles