Sky’s Elena Delle Donne, Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike named WNBA Players of the Week

NEW YORK Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky and Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks today were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played July 11 through July 17.

Delle Donne earned Player of the Week honors for the first time this season and the 11th time in her four-year career.  The 2015 WNBA Most Valuable Player presented by Samsung and three-time All-Star led the Sky to a 2-1 week as Chicago improved to 10-12 overall.  Delle Donne ranks second in the league scoring for the season (21.4 ppg).

Delle Donne paced all WNBA players in scoring (24.7 ppg) and ranked seventh among East players in rebounding (7.3 rpg) last week.  On July 13, the former Delaware standout finished with 15 points and six rebounds in a 77-67 home loss to the Sparks.  Two days later, Delle Donne notched 24 points and five boards in an 84-77 win over the visiting Dallas Wings.  She capped the week by recording 35 points and 11 rebounds and making the game-winning three-pointer with less than a second remaining to give the Sky a 91-88 road victory against the Seattle Storm on July 17.

Ogwumike earned Player of the Week honors for the third time this season and the seventh time in her five-year career.  She notched three double-doubles as Los Angeles won two of three games and improved to 20-2 on the season.

The three-time All-Star paced all WNBA players in field goal percentage (.788, 26-of-33) and tied for first in rebounding (11.0 rpg) for the week, and she also ranked second among West players in scoring (22.7 ppg).  For the season, Ogwumike ranks third in the league in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and fourth in scoring (19.5 ppg).

Ogwumike opened her week with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in a 77-67 road victory over the Sky.  On July 15, she scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 98-92 win against the host Connecticut Sun.  The Stanford product finished her week by posting 26 points and 12 boards in a 91-74 road loss to the Atlanta Dream on July 17.

Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were the Minnesota Lynx’s Maya Moore, the New York Liberty’s Tina Charles and the Phoenix Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner.

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
6/5/16             Tina Charles               New York       Maya Moore           Minnesota
6/12/16           Emma Meesseman     Washington    Nneka Ogwumike    Los Angeles
6/19/16           Tina Charles               New York       Candace Parker      Los Angeles
6/26/16           Tina Charles               New York       Diana Taurasi          Phoenix Mercury
7/3/16             Tina Charles               New York       Nneka Ogwumike    Los Angeles
7/10/16           Angel McCoughtry      Atlanta           Maya Moore           Minnesota
7/17/16           Elena Delle Donne      Chicago         Nneka Ogwumike    Los Angeles