ISL’s Around the WNBA
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Epiphanny Prince of the Chicago Sky and Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played June 4-10.
Prince led Chicago to a 2-0 record, helping the Sky to a franchise-best 6-1 start. Prince averages a league-leading 25.3 points per game. She opened the week by tallying 32 points, including a running three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to force overtime against Tulsa. She scored a combined 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Chicago won 98-91. Her third straight game with at least 30 points matched a league record set by Cynthia Cooper, then of the Houston Comets, in 1997. Two days later, Prince’s 26 points helped the Sky claim a 73-64 road win over New York, snapping the Liberty’s three-game winning streak.
Ogwumike, the first overall pick in the 2012 WNBA Draft. earned the league’s Rookie of the Month honor in May and now has her first Western Conference Player of the Week award. The Stanford product has helped the 6-1 Sparks to the second-best record in the West, with their only loss coming at the hands of the undefeated, defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx.
In the Sparks’ 90-74 win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury, Ogwumike recorded her first double-double as a professional with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
Minnesota still rolling
The Lynx have matched a WNBA record by winning their first nine games. The mark ties the 2001 and 2003 Los Angeles Sparks for the league record for victories to start a season. The Sparks reached the WNBA Finals in both of those seasons, winning in 2001 and losing to Detroit in 2003.Only three of the wins have come by fewer than 10 points.
Connecticut, Chicago tied atop the East
Both Connecticut and Chicago are 6-1. Connecticut moved ahead of Indiana with an 89-81 win. Tina Charles leads Connecticut with 20.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest. Chicago’s Sylvia Fowles averages 18.6 points and a league-best 14.6 rebounds. Indiana started the season with four wins but has lost its past two.
Catchings still scoring big
Indiana forward Tamika Catchings has been less of a scorer and more of a facilitator in recent years. She had an upswing in scoring in the opening few games, but it was hard to tell if she was going to continue on that path.
She has. She is averaging 21.5 points per game and shooting 52 percent from the field and 48 percent from 3-point range.She’s shooting 87 percent from the free-throw line and averaging 6.5 rebounds per contest. She scored 31 points in her last game, a loss to Connecticut.
All very impressive for a 32-year-old who switched from small forward to power forward before the season.
McCoughtry dominating on both ends
Atlanta guard Angel McCoughtry is averaging a ridiculous 3.75 steals per game, nearly a full steal ahead of the next-best player. She averages 2.2 steals for her career. She also ranks second in the league with 21.6 points per game.
Prahalis stars
Phoenix point guard Samantha Prahalis has taken advantage of Diana Taurasi’s injury and leads the league with 6.1 assists per game. She is also averaging 9.7 points and 2.0 steals per game.
Tulsa still winless
The Shock still seem like they are better than last season, but it has yet to show up in the way it matters most. Tulsa has lost all eight of its games, but five have been by seven or fewer points. They appear to be a bounce or two away from winning some games.
