Lynx Looking to Use Homecourt, Crowd to Their Advantage


MINNEAPOLIS – When the WNBA Finals 2015 presented by Boost Mobile tip Sunday afternoon (3PM ET, ABC), the Minnesota Lynx will be backed by an arena full of faithful fans that have given their team life all season long. Now they’ll have the chance to create a raucous environment on the biggest stage.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Shae Kelley. “We have great fans anyways, just being game-to-game during the regular season, we always get great fans. But they bring a lot of energy to us. Just, you know, if we’re down two or something, the crowd is always involved, and you can see that that helps us on the court.”



The Lynx are pitted against a Fever team that has proven its ability to win on the road in a tough environment. They did it in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Chicago Sky. the they did it against the New York Liberty inside Madison Square Garden.

Now, they’ll face their toughest task yet in the Target Center for Game 1 of WNBA Finals 2015 presented by Boost Mobile. The Lynx are well aware, though, of the advantage they have playing at home with some of the loudest fans in the league. After all, it’s why having homecourt advantage in the WNBA Finals looms so large.

“The crowd is huge,” veteran guard Lindsay Whalen said. “They’ve been part of our backbone all season. With us and the fans, we’ve really built something here. We’ve built something that we’re all proud of, and I know the fans take a lot of pride in their energy and their focus in the game. We have great fans.”

Still, the Lynx are well aware of how successful Indiana has been on the road, not only in the postseason but also on the road.

“Indiana’s a great team, a great road team,” Whalen said. “They have great leadership, so our fans will be very important and we want them to come out and support and be here and we’ll do our best on the court. It will be a hard-fought series, but it should be a lot of fun at the same time.”

“Every bit of momentum and help that we can get is going to be needed for this series,” added Maya Moore, “because Indiana is a tough-minded team. They are gritty. They know how to win on the road. They are locked in. We have to make sure that we can engage this crowd as much possible by being tough and tenacious ourselves. So it’s going to be an opportunity for us to really play well and gain some momentum to start off the series.”