Lynx capture 3rd WNBA title in 5 years with 69-52 win at home
Updated: Oct. 15, 6 a.m. | Posted: Oct. 14, 9:23 p.m.
The winningest franchise in the Twin Cities has another championship banner to hang in the Target Center rafters. The Minnesota Lynx won the decisive Game 5 in the WNBA Finals against the Indiana Fever 69-52 Wednesday night.
Through most of the game, the Lynx kept up the pressure on the Fever as the Indiana team struggled to hold onto the ball and score. By the start of the last quarter, it was clear the Lynx were on the way to another championship, their third in five years. But this time they were home.
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"This never gets old. Kinda coming to the microphone, champagne-soaked," said Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve. She led the team to championship wins in 2011 and 2013, but those were on the road.
"To stand there as a group, in front of our fans. Both groups deserved this — our players deserve it, because I tell our players all the time, they built this," she said. "And then our fans, to be able to connect and identify with our group is a really, really special time in our franchise history so I hope that both groups really soaked it up."
Fans and players had more time than usual to get into the series. It was the first time since 2009 that a WNBA championship went to the maximum five games. The strain of all that intense play showed at times.
The Lynx didn't get a lot of offense out of their superstar, perennial MVP candidate Maya Moore, who went one for eight from the floor and scored five points.
Fever Coach Stephanie White said that showed the depth of the Lynx.
"That's the great thing about a balanced team and when they need her to rise, she does," she said. "Tonight, she didn't have to because contributions were coming from other players and that's what it's about at championship time."
Instead, the Lynx relied on size.
Forward Rebekkah Brunson delivered a 10-point, 14-rebound performance.
Center Sylvia Fowles pushed around the Fever in the paint, putting up 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Moore says Fowles deserved her Finals MVP trophy.
"Sylvia was just so clutch for us. The heart and soul of those big moments, where if we needed something, we knew we could count on Syl," she said.
The Lynx set a franchise record for attendance, with 18,933 fans at the game.
Among them was Lynx season-ticket holder Jamie Acker of Plymouth.
"It shows people that women's sports can be a good money maker, and also good for the state of Minnesota," she said. "We don't have a lot of really great teams that make it to the finals, and now we won the whole thing."
A parade for the Lynx down Hennepin Avenue is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday with a celebration inside Target Center to follow.