Sylvia Fowles recognized for big game against Mystics

Sylvia Fowles won Eastern Conference Player of the Week for July 8 through July 14, as the Sky continue their streak of winning that award. Elena Delle Donne won it both of the two weeks prior to July 8.

Fowles played well in both of her games last week, but clearly this award is recognition of her monster game against the Mystics on July 10. She had a season-high 26 points and 18 rebounds in that contest, helping the Sky squeak out an 89-85 victory over Washington.

Here's what Chicago head coach Pokey Chatman had to say about Fowles after that game:

"She was huge, she was a beast, and she was in beast mode. She was getting her ankle rehabbed the other day and she had this green toe nail polish on and I said does that mean you are going to be the hulk? And I joked about it because she has really done an impeccable job of getting herself back to play. I mean she has been rehabbing 2-3 times a day in the swimming pool just hours on top of hours just to have an opportunity to be ready. She was an animal."

- Pokey Chatman (July 10, 2013)

Delle Donne has received a lot of the attention this year ever since impressing with 22 and eight in her WNBA debut, but in the Sky's next game Fowles was even more impressive with a 20-20 performance, which was only the 13th 20-20 game in WNBA history. Delle Donne and Fowles rank 4th and 5th respectively in the latest "Race to the MVP" on WNBA.com. Fowles moved up seven places from No. 12 the week before.

Here's the description for Fowles in the "Race to the MVP:"

"Sylvia Fowles might very well be the best traditional center in the league. In her last outing, Fowles had a monster game with 26 points and 18 rebounds that included 12-17 shooting from field goal range. While her MVP prospects suffer a bit because she often lacks consistency with these elite numbers, her individual performances when she explodes are ones that aren't worth missing."

- Aman Ali, WNBA.com

The Sky are 5-1 during the last three weeks where they've dominated the East's Player of the Week award. They also have the longest active winning streak in the East at three games and are only a half a game out of first place.