2015 WNBA Finals

Last updated

2015 WNBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve 3
Indiana Fever Stephanie White 2
DatesOctober 4–14
MVP Flag of the United States.svg Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota)
Hall of Famers Lynx:
Seimone Augustus (2024)
Lindsay Whalen (2022)
Fever:
Tamika Catchings (2020)
Eastern finals Indiana Fever defeated New York, 2–1
Western finals Minnesota Lynx defeated Phoenix, 2–0
  2014 WNBA finals 2016  

The 2015 WNBA Finals was the championship series for the 2015 WNBA season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). On August 26, vegasinsider.com projected that the Minnesota Lynx has the highest odds to win the series (11/10). [1]

Contents

The WNBA Finals were under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (22–12) than the Fever (20–14).

2015 WNBA regular season

Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
x - New York Liberty 2311.67612–511–613–9
x - Chicago Sky 2113.618213–48–914–8
x - Indiana Fever 2014.588311–69–813–9
x - Washington Mystics 1816.529511–67–1010–12
e - Atlanta Dream 1519.44189–86–1110–12
e - Connecticut Sun 1519.44188–97–106–16
Western Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
z - Minnesota Lynx 2212.64713–49–816–6
x - Phoenix Mercury 2014.588213–47–1015–7
x - Tulsa Shock 1816.529412–56–1111–11
x - Los Angeles Sparks 1420.41289–85–1210–12
e - Seattle Storm 1024.294128–92–158–14
e - San Antonio Stars 826.235147–101–166–16

2015 WNBA Playoffs

Minnesota LynxIndiana Fever
22–12 (.647)
1st West, 2nd overall
Seeding 20–14 (.588)
3rd East, 4th overall
Defeated the (4) Los Angeles Sparks, 2–1 Conference SemifinalsDefeated the (2) Chicago Sky, 2–1
Defeated the (2) Phoenix Mercury, 2–0 Conference FinalsDefeated the (1) New York Liberty, 2–1

Indiana Fever

The Indiana Fever finished 20–14, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. The Fever lost their first playoff game against the Chicago Sky, but rallied to win two straight elimination games, setting up a conference final against the New York Liberty. Once again, Indiana lost the first game of the series, but rallied to win two straight to reach the finals for the third time in franchise history, which gave Stephanie White the first rookie head coach to lead her team to the WNBA Finals.

Minnesota Lynx

The Minnesota Lynx finished with the best record in the Western Conference for the fourth time in five year, finishing with a 22–12 record. With the mid-season addition of Sylvia Fowles from the Chicago Sky, the Lynx eliminated the Los Angeles Sparks in three games. The Lynx then swept the Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference Finals after a controversial foul called on Mercury guard Noelle Quinn on Maya Moore with 1.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter in Game 2, which gave them a chance to win their third WNBA title in five years.

Regular-season series

The Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2–0:

Series summary

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

Game 1

ABC
October 4
3:00pm ET
Indiana Fever 75, Minnesota Lynx 69
Scoring by quarter: 10–10, 25–19, 19–18, 21–22
Pts: January 19
Rebs: Larkins 8
Asts: January 6
Pts: Moore 27
Rebs: Moore 12
Asts: Augustus, Whalen 4
Indiana leads series 1-0
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 11,023
Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Kurt Walker

Game 2

October 6
8:00pm ET
Indiana Fever 71, Minnesota Lynx 77
Scoring by quarter:24–20, 17–19, 18–24, 12–14
Pts: January 17
Rebs: Catchings, Larkins 9
Asts: Catchings, January 5
Pts: Fowles 21
Rebs: Fowles 9
Asts: Cruz, Moore 5
Series tied 1-1
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 12,134
Referees: Michael Price, Maj Forsberg, Lamont Simpson

Game 3

October 9
8:00pm ET
Minnesota Lynx 80, Indiana Fever 77
Scoring by quarter:20–19, 18–23, 21–15, 21–20
Pts: Moore 24
Rebs: Fowles 11
Asts: Cruz 5
Pts: Johnson 17
Rebs: Catchings 10
Asts: January 8
Minnesota leads series 2-1
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 16,332
Referees: Denise Brooks, Roy Gulbeyan, Tom Mauer

Game 4

October 11
8:30pm ET
Minnesota Lynx 69, Indiana Fever 75
Scoring by quarter:20–15, 12–21, 14–22, 23–17
Pts: Moore 20
Rebs: Moore 8
Asts:six tied 2
Pts: Johnson 15
Rebs: Larkins 6
Asts: January 5
Series tied 2-2
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 10,582
Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Maj Forsberg

Game 5

October 14
8:00pm ET
Indiana Fever 52, Minnesota Lynx 69
Scoring by quarter:17–15, 4–12, 8–21, 23–21
Pts: Catchings 18
Rebs: Catchings 11
Asts: January, Zellous 3
Pts: Fowles 20
Rebs: Brunson 14
Asts: Moore 5
Minnesota wins series 3-2
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 18,933
Referees: Michael Price, Denise Brooks, Roy Gulbeyan

Rosters

Minnesota Lynx roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G/F 33 Flag of the United States.svg Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m)165 lb (75kg)04-30-1984 LSU 9
F 32 Flag of the United States.svg Brunson, Rebekkah 6' 2" (1.88m)185 lb (84kg)12-11-1981 Georgetown 11
G 51 Flag of Spain.svg Cruz, Anna 5' 9" (1.75m)155 lb (70kg)10-27-1986 Spain 1
C 34 Flag of the United States.svg Fowles, Sylvia 6' 6" (1.98m)208 lb (94kg)10-06-1985 LSU 7
G 3 Flag of the United States.svg Greene, Kalana 5' 10" (1.78m)155 lb (70kg)07-13-1987 Connecticut 5
F 15 Flag of the United States.svg Jones, Asjha 6' 2" (1.88m)187 lb (85kg)08-01-1980 Connecticut 11
F 1 Flag of the United States.svg Kelley, Shae 6' 1" (1.85m)166 lb (75kg)09-29-1991 Minnesota R
G 20 Flag of the United States.svg Liston, Tricia 6' 0" (1.83m)185 lb (84kg)02-20-1992 Duke 1
G 21 Flag of the United States.svg Montgomery, Renee 5' 7" (1.7m)143 lb (65kg)12-02-1986 Connecticut 6
F 23 Flag of the United States.svg Moore, Maya 6' 0" (1.83m)177 lb (80kg)06-11-1989 Connecticut 4
F 14 Flag of the United States.svg Peters, Devereaux 6' 2" (1.88m)174 lb (79kg)10-08-1989 Notre Dame 3
G 13 Flag of the United States.svg Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m)164 lb (74kg)05-09-1982 Minnesota 11
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Cheryl Reeve (La Salle)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Shelley Patterson (Washington State)
Flag of the United States.svg Jim Petersen (Minnesota)
Athletic trainer
Flag of the United States.svg Chuck Barta (Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Assistant trainer
Flag of the United States.svg Keith Uzpen (Minnesota State-Mankato)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
Indiana Fever roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 11 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Achonwa, Natalie 6' 4" (1.93m)183 lb (83kg)11-22-1992 Notre Dame R
F 24 Flag of the United States.svg Catchings, Tamika 6' 1" (1.85m)167 lb (76kg)07-21-1979 Tennessee 13
G 5 Flag of the United States.svg Clarendon, Layshia 5' 9" (1.75m)140 lb (64kg)05-02-1991 California 2
G/F 25 Flag of the United States.svg Coleman, Marissa 6' 1" (1.85m)160 lb (73kg)01-04-1987 Maryland 6
F 33 Flag of the United States.svg Howard, Natasha 6' 3" (1.91m)169 lb (77kg)09-02-1991 Florida State 1
G 20 Flag of the United States.svg January, Briann 5' 8" (1.73m)144 lb (65kg)01-11-1987 Arizona State 6
G 42 Flag of the United States.svg Johnson, Shenise 5' 11" (1.8m)172 lb (78kg)12-09-1990 Miami (FL) 3
F 12 Flag of the United States.svg Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m)230 lb (104kg)04-04-1990 Maryland 3
F 2 Flag of the United States.svg Larkins, Erlana 6' 1" (1.85m)205 lb (93kg)04-02-1986 North Carolina 5
G 8 Flag of the United States.svg Lucas, Maggie 5' 10" (1.78m)152 lb (69kg)11-29-1991 Penn State 1
G 32 Flag of the United States.svg Pohlen, Jeanette 6' 0" (1.83m)171 lb (78kg)05-02-1989 Stanford 3
G 1 Flag of the United States.svg Zellous, Shavonte 5' 10" (1.78m)155 lb (70kg)08-28-1986 Pittsburgh 6
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Stephanie White (Purdue)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State)
Flag of the United States.svg Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego)
Athletic trainer
Flag of the United States.svg Todd Champlin (Daemen)
Strength and conditioning coach
Flag of the United States.svg Emily Burgess (Slippery Rock)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

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