NEW YORK, July 7, 2016 – Tina Charles of the New York Liberty and Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month presented by Samsung, respectively, for games played in June. Charles earned her second consecutive Player of the Month honor and her seventh overall, tying Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx for the most since the award’s inception in 2010. For Ogwumike, the Player of the Month award is the first of her career.
This marks the fourth-consecutive month the Eastern Conference Player of the Month has been a member of the Liberty, matching a WNBA single-team record held by Chicago from July 2013-May 2014. Charles has captured three of those awards during the current stretch, with Epiphanny Prince receiving the other (August 2015).
For Charles it is her fourth win as a member of the Liberty, and the second time she earned the accolade in consecutive months (June/July 2012).
Charles, the 2012 WNBA MVP and a four-time WNBA All-Star, led the WNBA in scoring (21.7 ppg) and ranked second overall – tops in the Eastern Conference – in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and assists (5.1 apg) in June. Charles guided New York to a 9-2 mark during the month, second in the league only to Los Angeles (10-1), by tallying 20 or more points in each of her final seven games, including two 30-point outings.
The University of Connecticut product began the month with 14 points and nine rebounds in a 91-59 win over Indiana on June 3, followed by 19 points and 13 boards in an 86-78 victory at Seattle two days later. She then began her stretch of 20-point scoring efforts on June 11 in a 90-75 win at San Antonio, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and followed that with a game-high 28 points in a 91-88 win over Dallas on June 14.
Charles scored a season-high 32 points in an 80-72 win at Connecticut on June 16. She then recorded a double-double with 26 points and 15 rebounds, to go along with six assists, in a 78-75 road win over Indiana. Three days later, Charles came within one rebound of posting a triple-double as she tallied 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in a 90-79 win at Atlanta.
Additional highlights of Charles’ play in May included:
• June 24 vs. Chicago: 21 points and 13 rebounds in an 80-79 victory
• June 26 vs. Phoenix: 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a 104-97 overtime loss
The Eastern and Western Conference Player of the Month awards, as well as the WNBA Rookie of the Month, are presented by Samsung and are part of the larger WNBA Performance Awards presented by Samsung program. This marks the third consecutive season that Samsung, an official WNBA marketing partner, will present the WNBA’s highest individual honors, including the WNBA Most Valuable Player, WNBA Most Improved Player, WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and WNBA Rookie of the Year.
For more information on this year’s WNBA Performance Awards presented by Samsung, visit www.wnba.com/awards.