Monday, August 20, 2012

Lynx Maya Moore named POTW

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The WNBA today named Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore its Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Thursday, Aug. 16 through Sunday, Aug. 19. Moore earns the honor for the first time in her career. The 2011 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Moore earned Rookie of the Month honors twice last season (July and August). The honor is the first time this season a Lynx player has been named Player of the Week after receiving five such honors last season.
Moore led the Lynx to a 2-0 record on the week, recording victories over the Washington Mystics and Tulsa Shock. In her first game back from winning a gold medal with the U.S. Women’s Olympic National Team, Moore scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc, as a part of Minnesota’s 98-69 victory over the Mystics. The 29-point win was the fourth-largest winning margin in franchise history. Two days later, Moore led the Lynx in points (22), rebounds (10), assists (6) and steals (4) while converting on 7-of-13 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, in a 83-59 win over Tulsa. The game was her third double-double of the season (fourth of her career) and the first time in three years a Lynx player has led the team in points, rebounds and assists in the same game.
She finished the week second in the Western Conference in scoring (19.2 ppg), tied for third in steals (3.0 spg), sixth in assists (4.5 apg), sixth in field goal percentage (.609) and eighth in rebounds (7.0 rpg). Moore’s performance improved the Lynx to a WNBA-best 17-4 and helped Minnesota clinch its second consecutive playoff appearance.
So far this season, Moore ranks second in the WNBA in three-pointers (42) and tenth in three-point accuracy (42.9%). She ranks fifth in free-throw accuracy (88.1%), 14th in the league in scoring (15.2 ppg) and first among forwards with 3.2 assists per game.
Indiana’s Tamika Catchings was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Following this weekend’s success at Target Center, Minnesota heads to Seattle for a game against the Storm tomorrow night at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Lynx return home for their fourth annual Catwalk for a Cure at the Mall of America Rotunda on Thursday, August 23, before heading to Atlanta to face the Dream in a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals on Saturday, August 25 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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