CHICAGO- Courtney Vandersloot has won the WNBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 17.
It is the second time in the last three weeks that Vandersloot has won the award. She has never been named as player of the week twice in a season, with this recognition marking the fifth time in her career Vandersloot has earned the honor.
“I just want to win games,” Vandersloot said following Tuesday’s tilt against the New York Liberty. “I want to be in a position to win a championship so I’m not really that concerned about it [being the league’s MVP], especially now. Ask me at the end of the season then maybe I’ll have a different answer but right now I’m focused on one thing and that’s winning games.”
Over the course of her last three games, Vandersloot has 57 points, 34 assists (36 is the Sky franchise record over three games) and is shooting 62.1% (23-37) from the floor. Her 23 points against the Indiana Fever on August 22 was a season-high. She averaged 19.0 PPG and 11.3 APG during the Sky’s three wins last week.
“She’s the head of our snake,” Head Coach and General Manager James Wade said. “She’s been able to create, get in the lanes and make good decisions whether that be putting the ball in the basket or making sure that the offense gets ran or either dropping it down for a dime. She’s been doing everything for us…She’s been really aggressive, and I love it.”
A summary of her performances from last week is below.
Las Vegas Aces, 8/18: Vandersloot’s assist to Azurá Stevens served as the game-winner with just 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation. It was one of her career-high tying 15 helpers during the game. Vandersloot tied the Sky franchise record (held by her) with 10 assists in the first half. She became the first player in WNBA history to have a 15+ point, 15+ assist and five rebound game.
New York Liberty, 8/20: Vandersloot’s 19 points and 10 assists marked the fourth time this season she recorded a double-double, the 33rd of her career. In addition, it was the 51st time in her career she reached a double-figure assist total. Vandersloot shot 9-14 (64.3%) from the field, in what at the time was her fifth straight game of shooting better than 50%. Her 25 assists over the two-game stretch tied for a Sky record (held by her), the fifth time in her career she reached that feat.
Indiana Fever, 8/22: The 10-year veteran secured 1,800 assists for her career when she recorded her second of nine assists during the game. She shot a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line while going 8-14 (57.1%) from the floor for a total of 23 points.