Sky’s Delle Donne And Vandersloot, Shock’s Paris Earn 2015 WNBA Peak Performer Honors
Chicago Sky guard/forward Elena Delle Donne, the 2015 WNBA Most Valuable Player, Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot, and Tulsa Shock center Courtney Paris have won the 2015 WNBA Peak Performer Awards for scoring, assists, and rebounding, respectively.
The WNBA presents the Peak Performer Awards annually to the players who lead the league in each of those categories during the regular season. Each player will receive a trophy crafted by Tiffany & Co. in honor of her accomplishments.
Delle Donne, a third-year pro, earned her first scoring title with an average of 23.4 points per game, the fifth-highest mark in WNBA history and nearly three points better than that of this year’s second-place finisher, 2014 scoring champion Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx (20.6 ppg).
Vandersloot, a five-year WNBA veteran, won her first assists title with 5.8 per game. Seattle’s Sue Bird, the 2005 and 2009 assists leader, finished second (5.4 apg), and Danielle Robinson of the San Antonio Stars was third (5.0 apg). Vandersloot also led the league in total assists with 198 over 34 games, 49 more assists than Robinson’s second-place tally of 149.
Tulsa’s Paris, a six-year pro, earned the rebounding crown for the second straight season. Her average of 9.3 rebounds in 34 games was the second-highest figure of her career, behind only the 10.2 boards from last season, when she more than doubled her previous best of 4.1. Three-time rebounding champion Tina Charles of the New York Liberty ranked second (8.5 rpg), just ahead of Delle Donne (8.4 rpg).
Delle Donne, Vandersloot, and their Chicago teammates are set to open the WNBA Playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sky will face the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Semifinals beginning tonight (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2).
Paris and the Shock will meet the Mercury tonight in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals (10 p.m. ET on ESPN2).
| Top Five: Scoring Average | |||||
| Player (Team) | G | FG | FT | PTS | PPG |
| Elena Delle Donne (Chicago) | 31 | 238 | 207 | 725 | 23.4 |
| Maya Moore (Minnesota) | 33 | 238 | 136 | 681 | 20.6 |
| Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta) | 34 | 235 | 178 | 685 | 20.1 |
| Tina Charles (New York) | 34 | 243 | 93 | 580 | 17.1 |
| DeWanna Bonner (Phoenix) | 33 | 158 | 175 | 521 | 15.8 |
| Top Five: Assists Average | |||||
| Player (Team) | G | AST | APG | ||
| Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky) | 34 | 198 | 5.8 | ||
| Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) | 27 | 147 | 5.4 | ||
| Danielle Robinson (San Antonio Stars) | 34 | 149 | 5.0 | ||
| Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx) | 34 | 125 | 4.3 | ||
| Jasmine Thomas (Connecticut Sun) | 33 | 133 | 3.9 | ||
| Top Five: Rebounding Average | |||||
| Player (Team) | G | OFF | DEF | TOT | RPG |
| Courtney Paris (Tulsa Shock) | 34 | 102 | 215 | 317 | 9.3 |
| Tina Charles (New York Liberty) | 31 | 72 | 216 | 288 | 8.5 |
| Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky) | 34 | 60 | 200 | 260 | 8.4 |
| Jantel Lavender (L.A. Sparks) | 34 | 68 | 213 | 281 | 8.3 |
| Sancho Lyttle (Atlanta Dream) | 34 | 87 | 189 | 276 | 8.3 |
