Making an instant impact in the Valley by being the WNBA’s top scorer so far this season, Phoenix Mercury guard/forward Kahleah Copper has been named the Western Conference Player of the Week for May 20-26.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Last week, the Pennsylvania native averaged 29.7 points in three games in which she shot at a 48% clip from three. So far this season, she is the highest scorer in the league with 29.2 points per game and is currently the only player with three 30-plus point games league-wide.
Just a kid from Norf Philly. Through five games this season, Copper is averaging a career and league-high 29.2 points.
Congrats on Player of the Week, Kah!✖️ https://t.co/Vt6S9iqbj4 pic.twitter.com/8TG4U8fYJz
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) May 28, 2024
After scoring her career-high of 38 points against the Atlanta Dream on May 18, she started last week’s dominance on Tuesday when she dropped 37 in a 98-88 win vs. the reigning WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces. In doing so, Copper became the first player in WNBA history to have back-to-back 37-plus point games.
The Rutgers product followed up the performance vs. the Aces by scoring 20 points against one of her former teams in the Washington Mystics on Thursday and 32 in a loss to the Dallas Wings on Saturday. Not only that, but Copper scored the 3,000th point of her WNBA career in the third quarter vs. Dallas.
During her short time in Phoenix to this point, Copper has career highs of shooting 50.5% from the field, 48.6% from three and has tied her 2020 total of 1.0 steals. She has scored a combined 146 points in the first five games of this season which is the third-most in WNBA history. WNBA legend Maya Moore had 149 in 2014 and icon Elena Delle Donne accumulated 148 in 2015.
Additionally, Copper and Moore are the only players in WNBA history to average 29-plus points while shooting at least 53.0% from the field and 48.0% from three through the first five games of a single season, according to a press release.
This marks just the second time Copper has received the Player of the Week honor, the first was in the 2022 season with the Chicago Sky. The Mercury’s newest star was traded in the offseason from Chicago to Phoenix.
Copper and the Mercury are now set to play four games in the next six days, starting with a clash against the top team in the WNBA, the undefeated (5-0) Connecticut Sun, today at 4 p.m. PT.
Rebecca Allen in concussion protocol, Sug Sutton doubtful for Mercury vs. Sun
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics and Phoenix Mercury news for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
