Lynx center Sylvia Fowles was named WNBA Western Conference player of the week for games ending Sunday. It is the ninth time Fowles has won the award in her 10-year career and her second award in a row this season.
Fowles is the first player in the Western Conference and the third player overall to win the award in the first two weeks of the season since the inception of the award. The others were in the East — Angel McCoughtry of Atlanta in 2010 and Elena Delle Donne in 2015, then with Chicago
The Lynx were 3-0 last week led by Fowles, who averaged 18.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.0 steals. She made 65.6 percent of her shots from the floor and had two double-doubles.
She had 21 points in a May 23 victory over Connecticut, becoming the second player in Lynx history to get 20 or more points, 10 or more rebounds (she had 13) and five blocks in the same game. In the rematch in Connecticut, Fowles had 20 points in 21 minutes. Sunday, in a runaway victory over San Antonio, Fowles scored 14 points with 12 rebounds.
New York's Epiphanny Prince was named player of the week in the Eastern Conference.
Kent Youngblood
Gophers-Arkansas date set
The Gophers men's basketball team will play Dec. 9 at Arkansas to finish a home-and-home series that started last season. The Razorbacks lost 85-71 on Nov. 22 at Williams Arena.
Mike Anderson's club finished 26-10 last season after losing to eventual NCAA champion North Carolina 72-65 in the NCAA tournament's second round. The Razorbacks return six seniors from a team that finished third in the SEC, including starters Daryl Macon, Jaylen Barford and Anton Beard.
The Gophers' nonconference schedule for the 2017-18 season will include three road trips. They travel to play Providence in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games on Nov. 13. Richard Pitino's team is also scheduled to play Massachusetts and Alabama in the Barclays Center Classic on Nov. 24-25 in Brooklyn.
U volleyball schedule released
The Gophers volleyball team announced its 2017 schedule, which will open Aug. 25-26 with the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in Madison, Wis. Minnesota, which lost to Stanford in the NCAA semifinals a year ago, will play North Carolina and Louisville.
The Gophers' home schedule will begin with the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 1-2. Other teams in the field are Tennessee, Texas-San Antonio and West Virginia. Minnesota will face 12 teams that competed in the NCAA tournament, including seven in Big Ten play.
Of the Gophers' 31 regular-season matches, 13 will be at the Sports Pavilion.
Etc.
• The Gophers' Justin Doeden was named to the Ping All-Midwest Region team as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Doeden ranked fourth in program history in both career and, as a senior, season stroke average. He led the team with an average of 71.8 this year to bring his two-year average to 73.0.
• Sam Carlson, a 6-4, 205-pound righthanded pitcher for Burnsville, was named the Gatorade Minnesota Baseball Player of the Year. He was 3-1 with a 0.41 ERA in 19 games for the Blaze.
An outfielder when not on the mound, he hit .532 with four homers and 16 RBI. He has signed with Florida and is expected to be an early round pick in Major League Baseball's June draft.
