NEW YORK – Former LSU women’s basketball star Seimone Augustus of the Minnesota Lynx was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week, for regular season games played Monday, June 14 through Sunday, June 20, the league announced on Monday.
For Augustus, the top overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, the Player of the Week presented by Kia Motors award is the fourth of her career. More importantly, it signifies a successful return from a pair of surgical procedures – first to the ACL in her left knee following a collision with on June 17, 2009, and then to remove non-cancerous fibroids this past April.
Augustus averaged 21.5 points (fourth in Western Conference, seventh overall), 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 block while leading the Lynx to a 2-0 record with back-to-back victories over the Tulsa Shock this past week.
The pair of wins gave Minnesota a 2-2 mark in games since Augustus made her 2010 debut and pulled the Lynx to within 1.5 games of second place in the West. The LSU product and Baton Rouge, La., native had missed the first nine games of the year.
After being idle for 19 home games stretching back to 2009, Augustus made a triumphant return to Target Center on June 18, with a game-high 27 points (her highest total since netting 30 on June 16, 2009), five rebounds and two blocks.
Included in that effort were a career-high five three-pointers and a team-leading seven points in the fourth quarter that helped Minnesota rally for a 78-67 win. It marked the Lynx first victory in the last nine games in which they had entered the fourth quarter with a deficit.
One night later in Tulsa, Augustus scored 16 points, including four more treys, in a 92-78 win over the Shock. The four three-pointers brought her total to a league-high nine for the week.
Augustus is the WNBA’s all-time leading averaging scorer with 21.1 points per contest. She was the two-time NCAA National Player of the Year at LSU and ranks second in school history with 2,702 points.
Scholanda Robinson, a former LSU standout, also garnered consideration for player of the week honors. Robinson, who played for the Lady Tigers from 2001-06, scored 14 points and 13 points, respectively in a pair of games for the Tulsa Shock last week. Robinson averages 10.8 points per game.