Photos: Lynx win a decisive victory, thrilling fans

Sylvia Fowles takes the ball to the rim.
Three Los Angeles Sparks defenders converge on Sylvia Fowles as she goes up for a layup during the third quarter. Fowles was the WNBA regular season MVP and took home the finals MVP award after the Lynx won the game and their fourth championship.
Evan Frost | MPR News

The Minnesota Lynx are champions once again. The Lynx beat the Los Angeles Sparks 85-76 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals Wednesday night.

It's the Lynx's fourth league title in seven years, tying them with with the WNBA's first dynasty, the now-defunct Houston Comets, one of the original teams when the league started two decades ago.

Sylvia Fowles — who was named MVP of both the league and finals series — scored 17 points and had 20 rebounds for the Lynx. She said she's especially proud of those rebounds — something she fell short on last year.

"If I didn't do anything else, I just wanted to make sure I'd go out there and rebound. That was my downfall last year," she said. "I just wanted to come in and show my presence. If that was rebounding, then rebounding it was."

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In fact, Sparks coach Brian Agler said the Lynx victory in Game 5 came down to rebounding, particularly in the first half.

"They were persistent. More persistent than we were, especially in the first 20 minutes," he said.

With Target Center under renovation, the Lynx played before a sellout crowd at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena, known as the Barn.

For Lindsay Whalen, the victory there was was particularly special. It's where where she started her career playing for the U.

"It doesn't get any sweeter than to bring another trophy home and another ring, but to do it here is definitely pretty cool," she said.