Players of the Week: Sutton-Brown and Pondexter
Published on July 6, 2009 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release
NEW YORK, July 6, 2009 - Tammy Sutton-Brown of the Indiana Fever and Cappie Pondexter of the Phoenix Mercury were named the WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, June 29 through Sunday, July 5.
Sutton-Brown, who averaged 18.0 points on 52.0 percent (13-25) shooting, 11.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks for the week, wins the second Player of the Week award of her career and is the second Fever player in a row to win the award. Sutton-Brown led the WNBA in rebounding and was one of two players (Nicky Anosike) to average a double-double for the week. Her 18.0 points per game led the Eastern Conference, among players who played in more than one game. She steered the Indiana Fever to wins over the Connecticut Sun and Atlanta Dream, extending the team's winning streak to a franchise-record eight games in a row. In Sunday's win over the Dream, Sutton-Brown scored a season-high 22 points including seven in the team's 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter which gave Indiana the lead for good. Against the Connecticut Sun, she recorded season highs in blocked shots (five), rebounds (14) and defensive rebounds (12). Her 14 rebounds, paired with her 14 points, marked her second double-double of the season. She went 10-10 over both games from the free-throw line after entering the week as a 75.0 percent (18-24) free-throw shooter.
Sutton-Brown has been selected to two All-Star teams over her nine-year WNBA career. She's fifth among all-time league leaders in blocked shots (412) and has scored over 2,700 points and collected over 1,500 rebounds in her career. This season, she's averaging 10.4 points per game and a career-high 7.4 rebounds.
Pondexter earns the third Player of the Week award of her career after averaging 21.5 points on 51.6 percent (16-31) shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in the Mercury's two wins. She led the league, among players who played in more than one game, in scoring this week and was the only player to place among the league's top eight for points, rebounds and assists per game. On the strength of Pondexter's play, Phoenix moved into first place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Lynx.
Against the Seattle Storm, Pondexter recorded her first double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) of the season while missing a triple-double by only two assists. She drained four of her six three-pointers for a season high in the game. She followed that performance up with a game-high 21 points in a road win over the Los Angeles Sparks. In that game, she pulled down four rebounds to become the second-fastest player (107 games; Diana Taurasi, 104 games) in league history to record 2,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists in a career.
Pondexter is a two-time WNBA All-Star, a gold-medalist with the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team and the 2007 WNBA Finals MVP. She currently ranks third in the WNBA in scoring (20.6 ppg) and fifth in assists (4.8 apg).
Other candidates for WNBA Players of the Week were Atlanta's Sancho Lyttle, Connecticut's Erin Phillips, Los Angeles' DeLisha Milton-Jones, New York's Shameka Christon, Minnesota's Nicky Anosike, Sacramento's Nicole Powell, San Antonio's Sophia Young and Washington's Crystal Langhorne.
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 6, 2009
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