Griner Named Western Conference Player of the Week

2014 WNBA Champion, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and 2017 WNBA Scoring Champion Brittney Griner was named the Western Conference Player of the Week, as announced by the league office today.  It’s the seventh career honor for Griner, the second-most by a Mercury player in franchise history (Taurasi).

Griner earns the award after two big performances last week, including a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double against Atlanta.  The 6-foot-9 center averaged a double-double on the week, posting averages of 30.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game.  She shot a blistering 64.7 percent (22-of-34) from the field and finished 17-of-20 from the free throw line in the two games.

In the win against Atlanta, Griner blocked three shots to become just the third player in WNBA history to reach 600 career blocks, joining Margo Dydek and Lisa Leslie.  Additionally, she posted back-to-back 30+ point games, just the second time in her career she’s done so.  The high-scoring efforts moved Griner into first place as the league’s leading scorer this season (19.6 ppg), as she’s the only player in the league averaging over 19 points per game.  Her 31-point, 11-rebound performance on Sunday was the franchise-leading 39th career double-double and the second one she’s had this season.

Through the first team’s 11 games this summer, Griner leads the league in scoring (19.6), is 10th in rebounding (7.5), ranks 3rd in blocks (2.2) and is 8th in field goal percentage (52.1 percent).  The standout center has taken off recently, guiding the Mercury to a 4-1 record over the last five games.  After averaging 16.4 points on 45.5 percent shooting (56-of-123) in the Mercury’s first eight games of the season, Griner has averaged 26.0 points on 64.2 percent shooting (43-of-67) over the last four games.

After coming within one win of trip to the WNBA Finals, the Phoenix Mercury return in 2019 in search of a league-record tying fourth WNBA title.  Led by the All-Star trio of Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix looks to continue its title quest on July 10 against Washington.  Tickets for the Mercury’s next home game on Wednesday, July 17 against the Dallas Wings, and the remaining 10 home games, at Talking Stick Resort Arena can be purchased by calling 602.252.WNBA or by visiting PhoenixMercury.com.