2015 WNBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve 3
Indiana Fever Stephanie White 2
DatesOctober 4–14
MVPUnited States Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota)
Hall of FamersLynx:
Lindsay Whalen (2022)
Fever:
Tamika Catchings (2020)
Eastern FinalsIndiana Fever defeated New York, 2–1
Western FinalsMinnesota Lynx defeated Phoenix, 2–0

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]

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 Liberty2311.676–12–511–613–9
x - Chicago Sky2113.618213–48–914–8
x - Indiana Fever2014.588311–69–813–9
x - Washington Mystics1816.529511–67–1010–12
e - Atlanta Dream1519.44189–86–1110–12
e - Connecticut Sun1519.44188–97–106–16
Western Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
z - Minnesota Lynx2212.647–13–49–816–6
x - Phoenix Mercury2014.588213–47–1015–7
x - Tulsa Shock1816.529412–56–1111–11
x - Los Angeles Sparks1420.41289–85–1210–12
e - Seattle Storm1024.294128–92–158–14
e - San Antonio Stars826.235147–101–166–16

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 Semifinals Defeated the (2) Chicago Sky, 2–1
Defeated the (2) Phoenix Mercury, 2–0 Conference Finals Defeated 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

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 United States Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 04-30-1984 LSU 9
F 32 United States Brunson, Rebekkah 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 12-11-1981 Georgetown 11
G 51 Spain Cruz, Anna 5' 9" (1.75m) 155 lb (70kg) 10-27-1986 Spain 1
C 34 United States Fowles, Sylvia 6' 6" (1.98m) 208 lb (94kg) 10-06-1985 LSU 7
G 3 United States Greene, Kalana 5' 10" (1.78m) 155 lb (70kg) 07-13-1987 Connecticut 5
F 15 United States Jones, Asjha 6' 2" (1.88m) 187 lb (85kg) 08-01-1980 Connecticut 11
F 1 United States Kelley, Shae 6' 1" (1.85m) 166 lb (75kg) 09-29-1991 Minnesota R
G 20 United States Liston, Tricia 6' 0" (1.83m) 185 lb (84kg) 02-20-1992 Duke 1
G 21 United States Montgomery, Renee 5' 7" (1.7m) 143 lb (65kg) 12-02-1986 Connecticut 6
F 23 United States Moore, Maya 6' 0" (1.83m) 177 lb (80kg) 06-11-1989 Connecticut 4
F 14 United States Peters, Devereaux 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 10-08-1989 Notre Dame 3
G 13 United States Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m) 164 lb (74kg) 05-09-1982 Minnesota 11
Head coach
United States Cheryl Reeve (La Salle)
Assistant coaches
United States Shelley Patterson (Washington State)
United States Jim Petersen (Minnesota)
Athletic trainer
United States Chuck Barta (Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Assistant trainer
United States Keith Uzpen (Minnesota State-Mankato)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured
Indiana Fever roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 11 Canada Achonwa, Natalie 6' 4" (1.93m) 183 lb (83kg) 11-22-1992 Notre Dame R
F 24 United States Catchings, Tamika 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 07-21-1979 Tennessee 13
G 5 United States Clarendon, Layshia 5' 9" (1.75m) 140 lb (64kg) 05-02-1991 California 2
G/F 25 United States Coleman, Marissa 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 01-04-1987 Maryland 6
F 33 United States Howard, Natasha 6' 3" (1.91m) 169 lb (77kg) 09-02-1991 Florida State 1
G 20 United States January, Briann 5' 8" (1.73m) 144 lb (65kg) 01-11-1987 Arizona State 6
G 42 United States Johnson, Shenise 5' 11" (1.8m) 172 lb (78kg) 12-09-1990 Miami (FL) 3
F 12 United States Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m) 230 lb (104kg) 04-04-1990 Maryland 3
F 2 United States Larkins, Erlana 6' 1" (1.85m) 205 lb (93kg) 04-02-1986 North Carolina 5
G 8 United States Lucas, Maggie 5' 10" (1.78m) 152 lb (69kg) 11-29-1991 Penn State 1
G 32 United States Pohlen, Jeanette 6' 0" (1.83m) 171 lb (78kg) 05-02-1989 Stanford 3
G 1 United States Zellous, Shavonte 5' 10" (1.78m) 155 lb (70kg) 08-28-1986 Pittsburgh 6
Head coach
United States Stephanie White (Purdue)
Assistant coaches
United States Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State)
United States Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego)
Athletic trainer
United States Todd Champlin (Daemen)
Strength and conditioning coach
United States Emily Burgess (Slippery Rock)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

References

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