The WNBA today named Minnesota Lynx guard Aerial Powers the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played June 27 through July 7. The Player of the Week award is Powers’ first of her career and first for the Minnesota Lynx this season (45th time in team history).
The 5-11 guard led Minnesota to back-to-back victories over the two teams with the best record in the league (Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky) moving the Lynx to 3-1 in the last four games and 8-15 overall. During the week, Powers averaged 19.8 points on 50.0% shooting, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 25.8 minutes per game.
In the four-game stretch she registered three 20+ point games, leading all players each contest and extending her WNBA career-record total to 18 games scoring 20+ points (nine in a Lynx uniform). In her best performance of the week, Powers reached a career-high 32 points on July 3 against the Aces, connecting on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, including 3-of-7 from deep. She became the fourth player this season to tally exactly 32 points in a game, good for the fourth most points scored in a contest by an individual this season. On June 28 against Dallas, Powers contributed 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, connecting on 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, dished four assists and grabbed three rebounds while Minnesota never trailed against the Wings. She scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the first quarter, helping to stake the Lynx to a 33-11 lead en route to a 92-64 victory over Dallas. In the July 1 contest against the Las Vegas Aces, Powers tallied her 1,500th career point, finishing with five points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. On July 6 against Chicago, Powers tallied her second double-double of the season (fourth of her career) finishing with a game-high 22 points and career-high-tying 11 rebounds.
New York’s’ Sabrina Ionescu was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. She averaged 21.0 ppg, 11.3 rpg and 7.0 apg across the four games she played.
(info courtesy of the Lynx)