MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota's Maya Moore has won the WNBA most valuable player award after leading the league in scoring.

The WNBA announced that Moore will receive the award before the Lynx host San Antonio in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night.

It's the first league MVP award for Moore in her four-year career. She averaged a career-best 23.9 points and set a WNBA record by scoring at least 30 points 12 times, including in four straight games. The scoring mark was the third-highest average in league history, trailing only Phoenix's Diana Taurasi's 25.3 points in 2006 and 24.1 in 2008.

Moore received 35 of the 38 first place votes, followed by Taurasi and Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry. Los Angeles' Candace Parker was fourth and Phoenix's Brittney Griner finished fifth.

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