Whalen named a Peak Performer

There really was no guess work on these awards, but they're honors nonetheless ...

Sun point guard Lindsay Whalen was one of three players named as a WNBA Peak Performer for the 2008 season. Whalen led the league in assists and joins Phoenix's Diana Taurasi (points leader) and Los Angeles' Candace Parker (rebounds) as this year's honorees. Each player will receive a Tiffany trophy in honor of their accomplishments.

Whalen, who set Connecticut’s all-time franchise assist record in 2008, now has 808 for her career, including 166 this season. She finished the year with 19 games in which she totaled five or more assists, and set a season high with nine on July 1, the night she broke the Sun's all-time mark.

Taurasi turned in the second-best scoring season in WNBA histroy, ranking behind the records she set in 2006 (25.3 ppg and 860 total points). She scored 30 or more 10 times this season, including a season-high 37 at Seattle on June 11, and tallied more than 20 points in 26 of 34 games. On July 8 against Houston, she became the fastest player to reach the 3,000-point plateau in league history, besting 2007 Peak Performer and defending league MVP Lauren Jackson’s previous record by 11 games. Taurasi already ranks in the top 20 for all-time total points in a WNBA career (3,398) and in the top three for all-time scoring average (20.3 ppg).

Parker was the only player to average more than nine rebounds per game this year. She tallied 10 or more rebounds on 17 occasions this season, including three of her first four games as a professional. Parker also tied her career-high of 16 rebounds three times in 2008, originally set on May 29 at Indiana. In that game, she tallied five or more in five statistical categories (16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists and five steals) to accomplish the league’s first "5 x 5." Parker also led the league in double-doubles with 17.