2015 WNBA playoffs

Last updated
2015 WNBA Playoffs
DatesSeptember 17–October 14, 2015
Final positions
Champions Minnesota Lynx (Finals Champion)
East champion Indiana Fever (Coach: Stephanie White)
West champion Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Tournament statistics
Attendance8,799 per game
←  2014
2016  →

The 2015 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2015 season.

Contents

Format

Following the WNBA regular season, four teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs and are seeded one to four based on their regular season record.

The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Semi-Finals, consisted of two match-ups in each conference based on the seedings (1-4 and 2-3). The two winners advanced to the second round, or Conference Finals, with a match-up between the 1-4 and 2-3 winners. At the conclusion of the Conference Finals, the winners of these series advanced to the WNBA Finals.

The Conference Semi-Finals and the Conference Finals are each best-of-three series. Series are played in a 1-1-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage (better record) hosts games 1 and 3, while their opponent hosts game 2. The WNBA Finals are a best-of-five series played in a 2-2-1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage hosts games 1, 2, and 5 while their opponent hosts games 3 and 4.

Tiebreak procedures

Two-team tie

  1. Better record in head-to-head games.
  2. Better winning percentage within own conference.
  3. Better winning percentage against all teams with .500 or better record at the end of the season.
  4. Better point differential in games head-to-head.
  5. Coin toss.

Three or more-team tie

  1. Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
  2. Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for first two rounds of playoffs) or better record against teams in the opposite conference (for Finals).
  3. Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
  4. Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
  5. Coin toss.

Playoff qualifying

Eastern Conference

SeedTeamRecordClinched
Playoff berthBest record
in Conference		Best record
in WNBA
1 New York Liberty 23–11August 28September 6September 9
2 Chicago Sky 21–13August 29——
3 Indiana Fever 20–14September 1——
4 Washington Mystics 18–16September 8——

Western Conference

SeedTeamRecordClinched
Playoff berthBest record
in Conference		Best record
in WNBA
1 Minnesota Lynx 22–12August 11September 8—
2 Phoenix Mercury 20–14August 21——
3 Tulsa Shock 18–16August 30——
4 Los Angeles Sparks 14–20September 6——

Bracket

Conference Semi-Finals:
Best-of-3 		Conference Finals:
Best-of-3 		WNBA Finals:
Best-of-5
         
E1 New York 2
E4 Washington 1
E1 New York 1
Eastern Conference
E3 Indiana 2
E2 Chicago 1
E3 Indiana 2
E3 Indiana 2
W1 Minnesota 3
W1 Minnesota 2
W4 Los Angeles 1
W1 Minnesota 2
Western Conference
W2 Phoenix 0
W2 Phoenix 2
W3 Tulsa 0

Eastern Conference

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

Conference semifinals

(1) New York Liberty vs. (4) Washington Mystics

September 18
7:00 PM
Washington Mystics 86, New York Liberty 83 (2OT)
Scoring by quarter: 14–21, 22–15, 19–20, 14–13,  Overtime: 7–7, 10–7
Pts: Latta 15
Rebs: Meesseman 10
Asts:three tied 3		Pts: Prince 26
Rebs: Swords 9
Asts: Charles 5
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 10,120
Referees: Michael Price, Cheryl Flores, Tom Mauer
September 20
1:00 PM
New York Liberty 86, Washington Mystics 68
Scoring by quarter:23–15, 21–22, 26–15, 16–16
Pts: Charles 22
Rebs: Stokes 7
Asts: Wright 6		Pts: Hill 19
Rebs: Dolson, Meesseman 5
Asts: Ruffin-Pratt 4
Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 6,619
Referees: Daryl Humphrey, Denise Brooks, Kurt Walker
September 22
7:00 PM
Washington Mystics 74, New York Liberty 79
Scoring by quarter:25-15, 12-30, 20-12, 17-22
Pts: Latta 18
Rebs: Vaughn 9
Asts: Latta 7		Pts: Charles 22
Rebs: Stokes 13
Asts: Wright 5
New York wins series 2-1
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 9,255
Referees: Roy Gulbeyan, Sue Blauch, Lamont Simpson

(2) Chicago Sky vs. (3) Indiana Fever

September 17
8:00 PM
Indiana Fever 72, Chicago Sky 77
Scoring by quarter: 15–24, 20–12, 16–18, 21–23
Pts: Catchings 21
Rebs: Larkins 10
Asts: January 7		Pts: Quigley 20
Rebs: Delle Donne 11
Asts: Quigley 6
UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
Attendance: 4,098
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Jeff Smith, Eric Brewton
September 19
7:00 PM
Chicago Sky 82, Indiana Fever 89
Scoring by quarter: 20–20, 22–24, 23–25, 17–20
Pts: Vandersloot 19
Rebs: de Souza 8
Asts: Vandersloot 6		Pts: Catchings 22
Rebs: Larkins 12
Asts: Zellous 8
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 7,124
Referees: Amy Bonner, Lamont Simpson, Roy Gulbeyan
September 21
8:00 PM
Indiana Fever 100, Chicago Sky 89
Scoring by quarter: 28–28, 24–19, 19–16, 29–26
Pts: Catchings 27
Rebs: Catchings 9
Asts: January 8		Pts: Delle Donne 40
Rebs: Breland 8
Asts: Vandersloot 14
Indiana wins series 2–1
Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
Attendance: 2,882
Referees: Denise Brooks, Byron Jarrett, Thomas Nunez

Conference Finals: (1) New York Liberty vs. (3) Indiana Fever

September 23
7:00 PM
Indiana Fever 67, New York Liberty 84
Scoring by quarter: 18–26, 24–22, 7–16, 18–20
Pts: Johnson 12
Rebs: Zellous 5
Asts:four tied 4		Pts: Stokes 21
Rebs: Charles 7
Asts: Charles 9
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 7,229
Referees: Denise Brooks, Byron Jarrett, Eric Brewton
September 27
1:00 PM
New York Liberty 64, Indiana Fever 70
Scoring by quarter:22–17, 22–12, 9–13, 11–28
Pts: Charles 25
Rebs: Stokes 11
Asts: Wright 5		Pts: Tamika Catchings 25
Rebs: Catchings 7
Asts: January 4
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 7,505
Referees: Sue Blauch, Maj Forsberg, Tom Mauer
September 29
7:00 PM
Indiana Fever 66, New York Liberty 51
Scoring by quarter:15–13, 18–9, 16–18, 17–11
Pts: Coleman 15
Rebs: Larkins 8
Asts: January 8		Pts: Wiggins 15
Rebs: Charles 10
Asts: Prince 4
Indiana wins series 2-1
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Attendance: 10,120
Referees: Michael Price, Roy Gulbeyan, Lamont Simpson

Western Conference

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

Conference semifinals

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (4) Los Angeles Sparks

September 18
9:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 65, Minnesota Lynx 67
Scoring by quarter: 15–22, 21–11, 13–22, 16–12
Pts: Parker 16
Rebs: Parker 9
Asts: Parker 4		Pts: Moore 33
Rebs: Fowles 9
Asts: Cruz 5
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 8,333
Referees: Sue Blauch, Daryl Humphrey, Jeff Wooten
September 20
3:00 PM
Minnesota Lynx 71, Los Angeles Sparks 81
Scoring by quarter: 23–24, 12–29, 20–10, 16–18
Pts: Moore 27
Rebs:three tied 7
Asts: Whalen 5		Pts: Parker 25
Rebs: Parker 10
Asts: Dabović 7
Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA
Attendance: 3,112
Referees: Maj Forsberg, Billy Smith, Michael Price
September 22
9:00 PM
Los Angeles Sparks 80, Minnesota Lynx 91
Scoring by quarter: 10-18, 20-25, 27-20, 23-28
Pts: Parker 28
Rebs: Parker 13
Asts: Ogwumike, Parker 4		Pts: Moore 20
Rebs: Moore 8
Asts: Brunson 5
Minnesota wins series 2-1
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 9,014
Referees: Eric Brewton, Amy Bonner, Tom Mauer

(2) Phoenix Mercury vs. (3) Tulsa Shock

September 17
10:00 PM
Tulsa Shock 55, Phoenix Mercury 88
Scoring by quarter: 15–22, 7–30, 22–16, 11–20
Pts: Sims 18
Rebs: Paris 7
Asts: Sims 3		Pts: Griner 18
Rebs: Griner 8
Asts: Mitchell 6
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Attendance: 8,509
Referees: Denise Brooks, Byron Jarrett, Thomas Nunez
September 19
9:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 91, Tulsa Shock 67
Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 22–12, 23–17, 27–19
Pts: Griner 23
Rebs: Griner 12
Asts: Xargay, Mitchell 3		Pts: Sims 22
Rebs: Paris 8
Asts: Sims 7
Phoenix wins series 2–0
BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
Attendance: 3,261
Referees: Sue Blauch, Tony Dawkins, Eric Brewton

Conference Finals: (1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (2) Phoenix Mercury

September 24
8:00 PM
Phoenix Mercury 60, Minnesota Lynx 67
Scoring by quarter:21–14, 11–21, 14–14, 14–18
Pts: Bonner 21
Rebs: Dupree 12
Asts: Bonner 5		Pts: Moore 19
Rebs: Brunson 19
Asts: Whalen 5
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 8,732
Referees: Michael Price, Roy Gulbeyan, Maj Forsberg
September 27
3:00 PM
Minnesota Lynx 72, Phoenix Mercury 71
Scoring by quarter:25–15, 16–26, 17–18, 14–12
Pts: Moore 40
Rebs: Fowles 14
Asts: Moore, Whalen 4		Pts: Dupree 16
Rebs: Currie 7
Asts: Currie 6
Minnesota wins series 2-0
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, AZ
Attendance: 9,871
Referees: Kurt Walker, Amy Bonner, Eric Brewton

WNBA Finals

Minnesota Lynx vs. Indiana Fever

ABC
October 4
3:00 PM
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
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 11,023
Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Kurt Walker
October 6
8:00 PM
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
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 12,134
Referees: Michael Price, Maj Forsberg, Lamont Simpson
October 9
8:00 PM
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
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 16,332
Referees: Denise Brooks, Roy Gulbeyan, Tom Mauer
October 11
8:30 PM
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
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 10,582
Referees: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Maj Forsberg
October 14
8:00 PM
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

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