2015 WNBA Finals

2015 WNBA finals

Team Coach Wins Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve 3 Indiana Fever Stephanie White 2
Dates	October 4–14
MVP	Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota)
Hall of Famers	Lynx: Seimone Augustus (2024) Lindsay Whalen (2022) Fever: Tamika Catchings (2020)
Eastern finals	Indiana Fever defeated New York, 2–1
Western finals	Minnesota 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).

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

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

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

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

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

The Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2–0:

June 6, 2015

Report

Minnesota Lynx 78, Indiana Fever 69

Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

September 4, 2015

Report

Indiana Fever 65, Minnesota Lynx 81

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

Series summary

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

Game 1

ABC

October 4 3:00pm ET

Game 1

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

ESPN2

October 6 8:00pm ET

Game 2

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

ESPN2

October 9 8:00pm ET

Game 3

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

ESPN

October 11 8:30pm ET

Game 4

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

ESPN2

October 14 8:00pm ET

Game 5

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
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