MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The WNBA today named Minnesota Lynx center Sylvia Fowles the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played May 22 through May 28. The Player of the Week award is Fowles’ ninth of her career and second as a member of the Lynx. She becomes the first player from the Western Conference and third overall since the award’s inception to win in the first two weeks of the season (Angel McCoughtry, 2010 and Elena Delle Donne, 2015).
After winning all three games for the week, the Lynx remained the only undefeated team in the WNBA at 6-0, opening a 1.5-game lead on Seattle for the WNBA’s top seed. The Lynx have now won 23 consecutive games in May and picked up a pair of victories at Xcel Energy Center to extend their home winning streak to 13 games, the second-longest run in franchise history.
Over the three games played in the week, Fowles averaged 18.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2.00 spg and 2.67 bpg while logging 26.0 mpg. She shot 65.6% from the floor (21-for-32) and 81.3% from the line (13-for-16) while ringing up two more double-doubles to increase her career total to 111 (third in league history).
The 10-year pro from Louisiana State University tallied 21 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high five blocks in the May 23 win vs. Connecticut, becoming just the second player in franchise history (joining Nicole Ohlde) to collect 20+ pts/10+ reb/5+ blks in a game. She added a season-high four assists and three steals, making it the first 5×3 effort of her career (pts/reb/ast/stl/blk). Later in the week, she led all scorers with 20 points in the May 26 rematch at Connecticut, tacking on nine rebounds and two steals, her fourth 20+ scoring night of the season and the 64th of her career. Fowles rounded out the week by notching her league-leading fourth double-double in six starts (14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds) while blocking three shots in the May 28 triumph vs. San Antonio. After the first week of the season, Fowles ranks sixth in scoring (20.0 ppg), second in rebounding (10.7 rpg), second in steals (2.00 spg), second in blocks (2.33 bpg) and second in FG accuracy (61.1%); she’s the only player among the WNBA’s top 10 in all five categories.
New York’s Epiphanny Prince was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
The Lynx play next on Saturday, June 3 against the Seattle Storm at Key Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CT and the game can be seen on WNBA League Pass and heard on BOB 106.1 FM.