Stewart, Delle Donne Named WNBA Players of the Week

UConn legend Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm has
been named Western Conference Player of the Week for
the fourth time in her three-year WNBA career.

(Photo by Bob Phillips)

NEW YORK—Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm and Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics have been named the WNBA’s Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played June 11-17.

This is fourth time Stewart has been named Player of the Week in her three seasons in the WNBA. She led the Storm to a 2-0 mark as Seattle improved to 8-3, the third-best record in the league. The 6-4 forward led the Western Conference in scoring (26.5 points per game) and tied for fifth in rebounding (8.0).  She also ranked fourth in field goal percentage (69.6, 16-of-23), including 6-of-9 from three-point range, while tying for second in steals (2.0) and averaging 3.0 assists.

Stewart, who led the Huskies to an unprecedented four straight national championships during her storied career in Storrs, started the week with season highs of 30 points and four three-pointers in a 96-85 win over the Chicago Sky on in Seattle on June 12. She also contributed seven rebounds and three blocks in the victory. The UConn legend then finished with 23 points, nine boards, four assists and three steals as Seattle defeated the visiting Sun 103-92 on June 15.

Delle Donne was selected Player of the Week for the 13th time in her six seasons in the WNBA, averaging a league-high 27.0 points per game as Washington went 1-1. The former Delaware All-American, was also sixth among Eastern Conference players in rebounding (6.5 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (55.6, 20-of-36), tied for second in steals (2.0) and first in minutes played (36.3 per game).

Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics, shown here driving againstNneka Ogwumike of the LA Sparks, has been tabbed for WNBA Player
of the Week honors for the 13th time in her six-year professional career.

(Photo courtesy NBAE/Getty Images)

The 6-5 forward/guard opened her week by scoring a season-high 36 points and adding six rebounds in a 95-91 win over the Connecticut Sun at the Mohegan Sun Arena on June 13.  She then registered 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals in a 97-86 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on June 15 in D.C.

Other candidates for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were the Atlanta Dream’s Angel McCoughtry, Connecticut’s Jasmine Thomas, the Dallas Wings’ Liz Cambage, the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, Los Angeles’ Candace Parker, the Minnesota Lynx’s Sylvia Fowles and the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi.

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

—Staff Reports