Jackson, Catchings collect weekly honors in WNBA

Two of the WNBA's most tenured superstars shined the brightest last week as the Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson and the Indiana Fever's Tamika Catchings were named the WNBA's Players of the Week.

Jackson has won Player of the Week award for the fifth time in the first nine weeks of the 2010 season. Overall, the dominating center from Australia has earned the away 19 times since being drafted in 2001.

Jackson ranks second in the WNBA in scoring (22.1 ppg) and sixth in both rebounds (9.4 rpg) and blocks (1.53 bpg) thus far in 2010. She led Seattle to a 2-0 mark during the week, extending the Storm's record to 18-2, equaling the second best start in WNBA history.

For the week, Jackson led the league in rebounds (12.5 rpg) and blocks (3.0 bpg), and finished second in scoring (28.5 ppg) behind only Diana Taurasi.

For Catchings, a former standout at Stevenson High School, it is the 13th time she has won the weekly honor, trailing only Jackson (19) and Lisa Leslie (15).

By leading the league in steals (3.0 spg), tying for fourth in rebounds (10.0 rpg), and ranking sixth in scoring (22.3 ppg) during the week, Catchings helped the Fever to a 2-1 mark and into first place in the Eastern Conference with a 13-7 record overall.

Her double-doubles in wins over conference rivals Atlanta and New York give her four on the season and 64 in her WNBA career, placing her just one behind Taj McWilliams-Franklin for seventh place on the WNBA's all-time career list.

With her 22 points at New York, Catchings registered 20-or-more points for the fourth straight game and finished as Indiana's leading scorer for the sixth time in as many contests. It was in the game at New York that the University of Tennessee product scored 16 of her points in the final 10:48 of the game, including 9 of the team's 11 points in overtime as Indiana engineered a come-from-behind win.