Catchings voted WNBA's most valuable

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Indiana forward Tamika Catchings, who guided the Fever to the second-best record in the league this season, was voted the WNBA's most valuable player.

Catchings, 32, won the honor for the first time after being runner-up in 2003 and 2009.

She received 21 of the first-place votes from a panel of 40 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the WNBA. Connecticut center Tina Charles was second in the voting and Chicago center Sylvia Fowles was third.

Catching averaged 15.5 points and 7.1 rebounds this season as Indiana claimed the No. 1 seed in the WNBA Eastern Conference. She is a seven-time all-star and was voted Rookie of the Year in 2002. Catchings is the only player in the Top 10 in the all-time WNBA lists for points, rebounds, assists and steals.

Indiana is playing Atlanta and Minnesota meets Phoenix in best-of-three series in the WNBA playoffs conference finals.