Douglas, Augustus named Players of the Week

Indiana's Katie Douglas and Minnesota's Seimone Augustus were named Players of the Week for the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, on Monday. Here is the press release from the league:

Douglas earns her third career Player of the Week award – her first as a member of the Fever – after averaging 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists. After being traded from the Connecticut in the offseason in exchange for Tamika Whitmore, Douglas scored 23 points and pulled in 6 rebounds in the Fever’s 75-46 win over the Sun on May 27. Against Los Angeles on May 29, she poured in a game-high 25 points to cap a stretch of four games in which she scored 20 or more points, becoming the second player in franchise history to accomplish the feat (Tamika Catchings, three times). In Indiana’s three games, Douglas led the team in assists twice, handing out five against both Connecticut and Detroit.

Douglas propelled the Fever to 2-1 record on the week, including a double-overtime thriller over previously-undefeated Los Angeles on May 29. In her first season with Indiana, Douglas has anchored a Fever squad that has played without Catchings in the early going. She currently ranks second in the WNBA in scoring for the season with 21.4 points per game, trailing only Phoenix’s Cappie Pondexter (26.8 ppg).

Augustus receives the second Player of the Week award in her career after averaging 22.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor (24-for-48), 50.0 percent of her three-pointers and 93.8 percent from the foul line.

She highlighted her week with a 25-point, 9-rebound performance while playing 42 minutes in Minnesota’s 98-92 overtime win at Houston on May 27. Her nine rebounds against both Houston and Chicago (May 29) tied her previous career-high mark. She was also Minnesota’s leading scorer in each of the team’s three games in the past week.

A two-time All-Star and former Rookie of the Year, Augustus rallied the Lynx from a 14-point deficit against Houston and sunk the game-tying basket with 25.9 seconds remaining in regulation. To date, she ranks fifth in the WNBA in scoring and among the top 25 in rebounding as a guard. Even more impressive, she’s led the Lynx to a franchise-best 4-0 start and a place atop the Western Conference standings. Minnesota is also the only remaining unbeaten team in the WNBA.

Other candidates for WNBA Players of the Week were Chicago’s Sylvia Fowles, Connecticut’s Lindsey Whalen, Los Angeles’ Candace Parker, Phoenix’s Cappie Pondexter, Sacramento’s Laura Harper, Seattle’s Lauren Jackson and Washington’s Monique Currie.