A season of highlights for Lynx point guard Whalen

Lindsay Whalen, the starting point guard for the Lynx, has probably had the best year of her career this season.

And the first postseason WNBA acknowledgement of that came on Tuesday. She made the home page of wnba.com for leading the league in assists. She is one of the league's peak performers.

Whalen had five or more assists in 26 games -- the Lynx were 23-3 in those games -- and twice had 10 assists.

Among her highlights, compiled by the Lynx:

• June 9 at Seattle: Had her first double-double of the season with a 13-point, 10-assist effort to lead the Lynx over the Storm 81-74, handing Seattle their first home loss since 2009.

• July 31 at San Antonio: Had 23 points, including the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left to lead the Lynx over the Silver Stars, 70-69. Whalen also had seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.

• August 7 at Los Angeles: Scored a season-high 24 points and had eight assists as the Lynx defeated the Sparks 84-78 at Staples Center.

• September 8 vs. Chicago: Had 20 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and zero turnovers to lead the Lynx to a 78-69 victory over the Sky. She became the first player in WNBA history to score 20 points and dish out 10 assists while not committing a turnover.

Whalen finished the regular season with career highs in points (464), assists (199), field goal percentage (.511) and three-point percentage (.405).

She has moved up to fourth all-time in career assists per game (5.1 apg) and fifth in total assists (1,347).

Whalen is one of seven players in WNBA history with 3,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career. She reached both the 3,000-point and 1,000-rebound milestones this season.

Whalen edged Becky Hammon for most assists, 5.85 to 5.82 per game. Two former Lynx players, Renee Montgomery of Connecticut and Lindsey Harding of Atlanta, were also in the top five in assists per game.