Liberty’s Tina Charles, Lynx’s Maya Moore named WNBA Players of the Week
NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2015 – Tina Charles the New York Liberty and Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played July 20 through Aug. 2, the span of play bookending Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star 2015.
For Charles, the Player of the Week honor is her second in a row and the 14th of her career. Now in her second season playing with her hometown team, the four-time All-Star led New York to a 3-1 record as the Liberty improved to 13-6 (.684) and maintained its hold on the top spot in the Eastern Conference after defeating the Seattle Storm twice and the Los Angeles Sparks once.
The sixth-year pro and 2012 WNBA MVP presented by Samsung led the Eastern Conference in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.538, 35-of-65), while ranking second in scoring (22.8 ppg). Charles, a University of Connecticut product, led all scorers in two of her games and was New York’s top scorer in all four contests.
Charles opened the two-week stretch with a game-high 30 points to go with five rebounds, two steals, and two assists in an 81-77 win at Seattle on July 21. One day later, she registered a game-high 14 rebounds and a team-best 14 points to lead New York past host Los Angeles, 59-53.
After the All-Star break, Charles finished with team highs of 18 points and eight rebounds in an 84-72 loss at the Indiana Fever on July 29. She then posted game highs of 29 points and eight boards and added three assists and two blocks in a 78-62 victory over the visiting Storm on Aug. 2.
Moore won Western Conference Player of the Week for the third week in a row and 13th time in her career. This latest honor came after she was named Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star Game 2015 MVP, scoring a record 30 points to lift the Western Conference past the Eastern Conference, 117-112, on July 25.
The 2014 WNBA MVP presented by Samsung helped Minnesota improve to a league-best 15-4 (.789) behind a 3-1 stretch that included home victories over the Sparks and the Atlanta Dream and a road win against the Tulsa Shock. She paced Western Conference players in scoring (23.3 ppg) and ranked fifth in assists (3.8 apg) and sixth in rebounds (7.3 rpg).
Moore led all scorers in three of her four games, starting with a 25-point, eight-rebound, five-assist effort in a 78-77 loss to the visiting Connecticut Sun on July 22. The fifth-year pro from the University of Connecticut also topped all scorers in an 82-76 win over Los Angeles on July 29, when she poured in 27 points and contributed seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists.
Moore then posted game highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Lynx’s 86-70 victory over the visiting Dream on July 31. She capped her four-game run by scoring 16 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Lynx held off the host Shock, 86-80, on Aug. 1.
Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were the Chicago Sky’s Elena Delle Donne and Courtney Vandersloot, Indiana’s Shenise Johnson, Los Angeles’ Candace Parker and Jantel Lavender, the Phoenix Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner and Candice Dupree, and the Washington Mystics’ Ivory Latta.
For more information on this week’s Players of the Week, visit www.wnba.com/awards.
2015 WNBA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week Ending East Player Team West Player Team
6/14/15 Elena Delle Donne Chicago DeWanna Bonner Phoenix
6/21/15 Elena Delle Donne Chicago Skylar Diggins Tulsa
6/28/15 Elena Delle Donne Chicago Lindsay Whalen Minnesota
7/5/15 Tamika Catchings Indiana Nneka Ogwumike Los Angeles
7/12/15 Cappie Pondexter Chicago Maya Moore Minnesota
7/19/15 Tina Charles New York Maya Moore Minnesota
8/2/15 Tina Charles New York Maya Moore Minnesota