NEW YORK – Tina Charles of the New York Liberty and Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm today were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Aug. 14-20.

Charles was selected Player of the Week for a record 26^th time since joining the league in 2010. This is her fifth Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor this season.

The 2012 WNBA MVP helped New York go 2-0 last week, extending its winning streak to five games and improving to 17-12. The 6-4 center ranked first among East players in scoring (21.5 ppg), tied for second in rebounds (8.0 rpg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.516, 16-of-31).

Charles opened her week with team highs of 24 points and seven rebounds in an 82-70 win at Connecticut on Aug. 18, while helping limit the Sun’s Jonquel Jones to 11 points. Two days later, Charles paced the Liberty with 19 points and nine rebounds as New York defeated the league-leading Minnesota Lynx, 70-61.

Stewart earned Player of the Week honors for the second time this season and third time in her two-year career. The 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year guided Seattle to a 3-0 week and its fourth win in as many games under interim coach Gary Kloppenburg.

Stewart ranked sixth among Western Conference players in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounds (9.7 rpg), was fourth in blocks (1.67 bpg), and tied for fifth in assists (4.0 apg).

The 6-4 forward opened her week with a double-double (12 points and 11 rebounds) as Seattle topped visiting Minnesota 62-61 on Aug. 16. Two days later she paced the Storm with 22 points and nine rebounds in a 79-78 win over the visiting San Antonio Stars. She also contributed three assists and three blocks.  Stewart closed out the week with 19 points, nine boards and six assists in a 103-66 road win against Chicago Sky on Aug. 20

Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were the Atlanta Dream’s Brittney Sykes, Chicago’s Stefanie Dolson and Allie Quigley,  Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones, the Dallas Wing’s Glory Johnson, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike, San Antonio’s Dearica Hamby and the Washington Mystics’ Emma Meesseman.

For more information on the WNBA Players of the Week, visit www.wnba.com/awards.

The 2017 WNBA regular season runs through Sept. 3.  For more information on the WNBA and game tickets, fans may visit www.wnba.com.