NEW YORK – Tina Charles of the New York Liberty 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 June 27 through July 3.

Charles earned Player of the Week honors for the fifth time in 2016, matching a WNBA single-season record, and the 19^th time in her seven-year career.  The 2012 WNBA Most Valuable Player and four-time All-Star played in two of the Liberty’s three games last week as New York went 2-1 and now stands an East-best 12-6.  Charles leads the WNBA in scoring (23.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.8 rpg) for the season.

In winning the East award for the third consecutive time, Charles paced all WNBA players in scoring (29.0 ppg) and ranked second among East players in rebounding (9.5 rpg) last week.  On July 1, the former University of Connecticut standout finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds in a 99-88 road win over the Phoenix Mercury.  Charles capped her week with 27 points and nine rebounds in a 77-67 road loss to the Sparks on July 3.

Ogwumike earned Player of the Week honors for the second time this season and the sixth time in her five-year career.  She notched two double-doubles as Los Angeles won all three of its games and improved to 16-1, equaling the WNBA record for the best start through 17 games.

The three-time All-Star paced all WNBA players in field goal percentage (.781, 25-of-32) and ranked second among West players in scoring (22.3 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg) for the week.  She also was the only player to average a double-double.  For the season, Ogwumike ranks third in the league in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and sixth in scoring (18.6 ppg).

Ogwumike posted a career-high 38 points and 11 rebounds in an 84-75 home victory against the Atlanta Dream on June 30.  The Stanford product then finished her week by notching 22 points and 15 rebounds in a 77-67 home win over the Liberty on July 3.

Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were the Chicago Sky’s Elena Delle Donne, the Connecticut Sun’s Alex Bentley, Los Angeles’ Candace Parker, New York’s Sugar Rodgers, Phoenix’s Brittney Griner and the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart.

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