MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The WNBA today named Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier as the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Tuesday, May 14 through Sunday, May 19. This marks Collier’s fifth career Player of the Week honors and she becomes the fourth Lynx player to earn the weekly honor five or more times (Maya Moore – 20 times, Seimone Augustus – seven times and Sylvia Fowles – six times).
Collier finished the week averaging 24.5 points on 46.3% shooting, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. She led Minnesota to a home-and-home set sweep over the Seattle Storm, moving the team to a 2-0 start to the season for the first time since the 2019 season.
In the 83-70 Season Opener victory against Seattle on May 14, Collier dominated the game with 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, marking her 17th career 20+ point/10+ rebound double-double. She tallied seven points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter alone to secure the win as the Lynx outscored Seattle 20-10 in the final 10 minutes of game action.
Collier had another dominant performance to push the team to a 102-93 win in double-overtime over the Storm in Minnesota’s Home Opener on May 17. She tallied 17 of her game-high 29 points in the final 20 minutes, seven in the fourth quarter and five in each overtime period. Collier added a team-high nine rebounds, five assists, a career-high six steals and two blocks in 44:08 minutes of action. She became only the 12th player in WNBA history to register a game with 25+ points/5+ rebounds/5+ assists/5+ steals and the second Lynx player to do so, joining Odyssey Sims who accomplished this feat on June 25, 2019 against the Indiana Fever.
Through the first week of the season, Collier currently ranks first in the WNBA in steals (3.5 spg), fourth in scoring (24.5 ppg) and fifth in rebounds (10.5 rpg).
Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
The Lynx play next on Thursday, May 23 against the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. CT and the game can be seen on Bally Sports North and heard on the iHeartRadio/Lynx App.
