Lynx' Fowles Named Player of the Month

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The WNBA today named Minnesota Lynx center Sylvia Fowles its Western Conference Player of the Month for the month of May after she led the Lynx to a league-best 6-0 record. This is the first Western Conference Player of the Month award for Fowles this season and the sixth of her career, having also been named Eastern Conference Player of the Month in August 2011, May 2012, July 2013, August 2013 and September 2013 when she was with Chicago. The award marks the 12th time a Lynx player has been named Player of the Month, with Maya Moore (August 2013, September 2013, May 2014, July 2014, August 2014, July 2015, May 2016 and September 2016), Lindsay Whalen (August 2011), Seimone Augustus (July 2011) and Rebekkah Brunson (June 2011) also having previously received the award. Fowles was awarded Western Conference Player of the Week on May 23 and May 30, becoming the first player ever in the Western Conference to win the award in the first two weeks of the season.

After the first month 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 is the only player in the WNBA to rank among the top 10 in all five categories.

Highlights from Fowles’ month include:

• May 14 vs. Chicago: Tallied 26 points (9-of-15), 10 rebounds and four steals in the 70-61 win over Chicago. Her totals led the Lynx in scoring, rebounding and steals.
• May 20 at Dallas: Erupted for a game- and season-high 27 points and 13 rebounds including eight offensive boards, marking her 41st career 20/10 effort. The eight offensive rebounds were her high in a Lynx uniform and the most by any Minnesota player since Rebekkah Brunson collected eight at Atlanta on Aug. 20, 2013.
• May 23 vs. Connecticut: Led all players with 21 points, 13 rebounds and a season-high five blocks. She's just the second player in franchise history to collect 20+ pts/10+ reb/5+ blk in a game (Nicole Ohlde, 2006).

Atlanta Dream forward Tiffany Hayes was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month presented by Samsung for the month of May. Hayes averaged 19.8 points on 42.6% shooting and 5.0 rebounds per game in May.

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.