Season In Review: Minnesota Lynx


As a part of a WNBA.com offseason series, we’ll be taking a look at the seasons of all 12 teams in the league and touching on some of the top reasons to look forward to their 2016 WNBA campaigns.

If 2015 was supposed to be a revenge tour for the Chicago Sky, for the Minnesota Lynx it was a reclamation project. The 2014 WNBA MVP Maya Moore was back and better than ever, and head coach Cheryl Reeve’s squad had one thing in mind: taking back the Western Conference crown and winning another WNBA title.

But the odds weren’t exactly in their favor. In a stacked Western Conference, the Lynx were in for a fierce battle with the defending champion Mercury for the throne. Despite Diana Taurasi’s absence, Phoenix was still the biggest threat in the Western Conference.

Early on it was all Minnesota, though. The Lynx stormed out of the gates and took a commanding lead, and by the All-Star break everything was clicking. The Lynx were 12-4, Maya Moore was an All-Star again (shocker!) and Reeve’s team seemed destined to compete for the best record in the league.

All along, though, there was one piece of the rotation that was missing. Minnesota lacked a true center, a rim protector who could change the game on both ends of the floor. However, mere hours after the 2015 WNBA All-Star Game — a game in which Maya Moore dominated and took home MVP honors — the Lynx broke through with a blockbuster trade.

Olympian Sylvia Fowles was acquired from the Chicago Sky in exchange for Damiras Dantas and rookie Reshanda Gray, who were sent to the Atlanta Dream, the deal’s third team. The Sky received center Erika de Souza.

Suddenly, the Lynx looked like an even more daunting foe for the entire league.

But injuries hobbled parts of the Minnesota rotation. Guard Lindsay Whalen dealt with injuries, and Seimone Augustus wasn’t entirely healthy. As such, the Lynx struggled to gain a complete grasp of their identity with Fowles now in the fold.

By season’s end, the Lynx were atop the Western Conference standings but narrowly missed the No. 1 overall seed, falling to the New York Liberty in that category. Regardless, Reeve had her team back where they wanted to be. The top seed in the West with a Semifinals series against the Los Angeles Sparks to begin the playoffs.

Maya Moore dropped 33 points and Seimone Augustus added 17 in Game 1, and Minnesota moved out to an early 1-0 series lead. The onus was on Candace Parker and the Sparks to push the series to its limit. They would have to defend home court.

And that they did, behind 25 points from Candace Parker. Sparks head coach Brian Agler’s resilient squad won 81-71 to force a third and final game. But Minnesota’s veteran core was not about to be denied a spot in the Western Conference Finals.

The Lynx took Game 3 behind a balanced effort from Whalen, Moore and Augustus, and just like that they were pitted for a showdown with Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury.

The defending champions proved to be even less of a test than the Sparks. Minnesota moved past the Mercury in quick order (2-0) and clinched a berth in the WNBA Finals against the Indiana Fever, the team Minnesota fell to in the 2012 WNBA Finals.

Their final act would prove to be the biggest test of the season. The Fever, led by rookie head coach Stephanie White and WNBA legend Tamika Catchings, took care of the little things and won Game 1, flipping homecourt advantage and giving life to a team many didn’t believe had a shot against the powerhouse Lynx.

Minnesota bounced back in Game 2 behind a dominant performance from Fowles. Her 21-point, 9-rebound game led the way, and Moore added 19 points on 10-of-13 shooting. As the series flipped to Indianapolis, the WNBA championship was a toss up.

And then Game 3 happened. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of things to come, perhaps just a remarkable moment in the midst of an all-time classic series, but Maya Moore’s game-winning buzzer beater pushed all of the momentum in Minnesota’s favor.

In front with a 2-1 series lead, Moore, Fowles and Co. could almost taste a WNBA title. Indiana had other plans, though. White’s team continued to show the resiliency they’d displayed throughout the playoffs, and with their backs against the wall the Fever forced a decisive Game 5 in Minnesota.

With the WNBA championship on the line and a series-clinching game to be played in front of a raucous crowd inside the Target Center, the Lynx simply would not be denied. Fowles scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds on her way to being named WNBA Finals MVP. The Lynx won 69-52 and finished the 2015 WNBA season back on the mountaintop.

Reasons To Look Forward To 2016

Maya Moore is back. Fowles is back. Augustus and Whalen will be back. And they’ll all be working towards defending their WNBA crown. Anna Cruz and Renee Montgomery were vital to the Lynx’s success in 2015, and no matter how Reeve and the front office fill out the roster, Minnesota should be right back in contention for the playoffs and a title in 2016.