WNBA honors Lynx forward Brunson

Rebekkah Brunson of the Lynx was named WNBA Western Conference player of the month for June.

In nine games, the 6-2 forward averaged 12.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists as the Lynx went 6-3. Brunson started the season with six consecutive double-doubles, tying a league record.

A two-time All-Star, Brunson is on pace to tie the WNBA record for rebounds in a single season (398, set last season by Connecticut's Tina Charles).

Charles and the Sun play the Lynx at 7 p.m. Saturday at Target Center, so those two players will go elbow-to-elbow battling on the boards.

Brunson's 11.7 rebounds per game ranks 1st in the WNBA. She is fourth in the league with a .570 field goal percentage.

This is Brunson's seventh season in the WNBA and her second year with the Lynx. She is the first Lynx representative to ever be named the player of the month.

Here is how Brunson started the season:

June 2 at Los Angeles/ 10 pts., 12 rebs.

June 5 vs. Los Angeles/ 10 pts., 15 rebs.

June 7 vs. Tulsa / 17 pts., 15 rebs.

June 9 at Seattle/ 22 pts., 14 rebs.

June 17 Atlanta/ 18 pts., 14 rebs.

June 19 Atlanta/ 10 pts., 10 rebs.

In the last three games, Brunson has scored in double figures only once (12 points) and reached double figures in rebounds once (11).

CHARLES -- THE ALMOST LYNX

Charles could have been a Lynx player, but the team traded the No. 1 pick in the 2010 WNBA draft and point guard Renee Montgomery to the Sun for the No. 2 pick and Linday Whalen. Minnesota used the No. 2 pick -- after Connecticut took Charles -- to pick guard Monica Wright.

Behind Charles, a 6-4 center, the Sun was 5-3 in June. She averaged 19.8 points last month -- second in the league -- and led Eastern Conference plaers with 11 rebounds per game.

SHORT SHOTS

* All-star voting ends at midnight July 10. The starters will be named July 14 during the Seattle vs. San Antonio game on ESPN2. The all-star game will be July 23 on ABC-TV.

* The Lynx's 6-3 start matches the team's best in its 13-year history. Minnesota was 6-3 in 2000, 2008 and 2009 -- and missed the playoffs all three of those seasons.

* The Lynx are averaging 39.1 rebounds per game -- first in the WNBA, 18.9 fast break points per game -- also first and ahead of the league record of 16.6 ppg set by Phoenix in 2007, and are holding opponents to a 39.7 shooting percentage, also first.

* Whalen needs 13 rebounds for 1,000 in her career. When she reaches that milestone, Whalen will be the third WNBA player with 2,500-plus points, 1,000-plus assists and 1,000 rebounds. She ranks third in the WNBA in assists, averaging 5.7 per game.

* League general managers picked Lynx forward Maya Moore to be the rookie of the year but the rookie of the month in June was Danielle Adams of San Antonio. Adams average 15.9 points and shot 51.1 percent from the field, both league highs for a rookie. The Spurs took her with the 20th pick in the 2011 WNBA draft.

Adams is also averaging 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

Moore is averaging 13.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists.