Wikipedia

2015 WNBA Finals

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]

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:
Seimone Augustus (2024)
Lindsay Whalen (2022)
Fever:
Tamika Catchings (2020)
Eastern finalsIndiana Fever defeated New York, 2–1
Western finalsMinnesota Lynx defeated Phoenix, 2–0
← 2014 WNBA finals 2016 →

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

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Main article: 2015 WNBA season
Eastern Conference
W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
x - New York Liberty 23 11 .676 – 12–5 11–6 13–9
x - Chicago Sky 21 13 .618 2 13–4 8–9 14–8
x - Indiana Fever 20 14 .588 3 11–6 9–8 13–9
x - Washington Mystics 18 16 .529 5 11–6 7–10 10–12
e - Atlanta Dream 15 19 .441 8 9–8 6–11 10–12
e - Connecticut Sun 15 19 .441 8 8–9 7–10 6–16
Western Conference
W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
z - Minnesota Lynx 22 12 .647 – 13–4 9–8 16–6
x - Phoenix Mercury 20 14 .588 2 13–4 7–10 15–7
x - Tulsa Shock 18 16 .529 4 12–5 6–11 11–11
x - Los Angeles Sparks 14 20 .412 8 9–8 5–12 10–12
e - Seattle Storm 10 24 .294 12 8–9 2–15 8–14
e - San Antonio Stars 8 26 .235 14 7–10 1–16 6–16

2015 WNBA Playoffs

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Main article: 2015 WNBA Playoffs
Minnesota Lynx Indiana 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

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Main article: 2015 Indiana Fever season

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

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Main article: 2015 Minnesota Lynx season

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

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The Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2–0:

Series summary

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

Game 1

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

References

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  1. ^ WNBA Future Sportsbook Betting Odds at Vegasinsider.com
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