2012 WNBA Finals

2012 WNBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Indiana Fever Lin Dunn 3 Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve 1
Dates	October 14 – 21
MVP	Tamika Catchings
Hall of Famers	Fever: Tamika Catchings (2020) Lynx: Seimone Augustus (2024) Lindsay Whalen (2022)
Eastern finals	Indiana defeated Connecticut, 2–1
Western finals	Minnesota defeated Los Angeles, 2–0

The 2012 WNBA Finals was the series for the 2012 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Minnesota Lynx, champions of the Western Conference, faced the Indiana Fever, champions of the Eastern Conference. The Fever defeated the Lynx three games to one becoming only the second Eastern Conference franchise to capture a WNBA title.

The WNBA Finals were under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (27–7) than the Fever (22–12). The Lynx were defending their 2011 WNBA Championship. The Fever appeared in the 2009 Finals.

Background

2012 WNBA regular season

Main article: 2012 WNBA season

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Connecticut Sun y	25	9	.735	–	12–5	13–4	18–4
Indiana Fever x	22	12	.647	3.0	13–4	9–8	15–7
Atlanta Dream x	19	15	.559	6.0	11–6	8–9	12–10
New York Liberty x	15	19	.441	10.0	9–8	6–11	10–12
Chicago Sky o	14	20	.412	11.0	7–10	7–10	8–14
Washington Mystics o	5	29	.147	20.0	4–13	1–16	3–19

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Minnesota Lynx z	27	7	.794	–	16–1	11–6	17–5
Los Angeles Sparks x	24	10	.706	3.0	16–1	8–9	15–7
San Antonio Silver Stars x	21	13	.618	6.0	12–5	9–8	14–8
Seattle Storm x	16	18	.471	11.0	10–7	6–11	11–11
Tulsa Shock o	9	25	.265	18.0	6–11	3–14	5–17
Phoenix Mercury o	7	27	.206	20.0	3–14	4–13	4–18

2012 WNBA Playoffs

Main article: 2012 WNBA Playoffs

Minnesota Lynx		Indiana Fever
27–7 (.794) 1st West, 1st overall	Seeding		22–12 (.647) 2nd East, 4th overall
Defeated the (4) Seattle Storm, 2–1	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (3) Atlanta Dream, 2–1
Defeated the (2) Los Angeles Sparks, 2–0	Conference Finals		Defeated the (1) Connecticut Sun, 2–1

Indiana Fever

Main article: 2012 Indiana Fever season

The Indiana Fever finished 22–12, good for second place in the Eastern Conference. The Fever lost their first playoff game against the Atlanta Dream, but rallied to win two straight elimination games, setting up a conference final against the Connecticut Sun. Once again, Indiana lost the first game of the series, but rallied to win two straight to reach the finals for the second time in four years.

Minnesota Lynx

Main article: 2012 Minnesota Lynx season

The Minnesota Lynx finished with the best record in the WNBA for the second straight year, finishing with a 27–7 record. The Lynx were taken to three games by the Seattle Storm, winning Game 3 by one point. The Lynx then swept the Los Angeles Sparks in the Western Conference Finals, which gave them a chance to defend their 2011 WNBA title.

Regular-season series

The Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2–0:

September 14, 2012

Report

Minnesota Lynx 66, Indiana Fever 64

Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

September 17, 2012

Report

Indiana Fever 79, Minnesota Lynx 86

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN

Series summary

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

Game 1

ESPN2

October 14 8:00pm ET

Recap

Indiana Fever 76, Minnesota Lynx 70
Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 18–20, 13–18, 20–12
Pts: Catchings (20) Rebs: Larkins (15) Asts: January (6)		Pts: Augustus (23) Rebs: Brunson, Moore (10) Asts: Whalen (4)
Indiana lead series, 1–0

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 14,322 Referees: Sue Blauch, Kurt Walker, Tom Mauer

Game 2

ESPN

October 17 8:00pm ET

Recap

Indiana Fever 71, Minnesota Lynx 83
Scoring by quarter: 18–11, 15–20, 22–29, 16–23
Pts: Catchings (27) Rebs: Catchings (8) Asts: Phillips (4)		Pts: Augustus (27) Rebs: Brunson (7) Asts: McWilliams-Franklin, Moore, Whalen (4)
Series tied 1–1

Target Center, Minneapolis, MN Attendance: 13,478 Referees: Michael Price, Roy Gulbeyan, Brenda Pantoja

Game 3

ESPN2

October 19 8:00pm ET

Report

Minnesota Lynx 59, Indiana Fever 76
Scoring by quarter: 16–21, 11–24, 11–25, 21–6
Pts: Brunson (12) Rebs: Brunson (9) Asts: Wiggins (3)		Pts: Zellous (30) Rebs: Larkins (12) Asts: Davenport (4)
Indiana lead series, 2–1

Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 18,165 Referees: Denise Brooks, Lamont Simpson, Eric Brewton

Game 4

ESPN2

October 21 8:00pm ET

Report

Minnesota Lynx 78, Indiana Fever 87
Scoring by quarter: 18–25, 24–22, 16–18, 20–24
Pts: Whalen (22) Rebs: Augustus (7) Asts: Whalen (8)		Pts: Catchings (28) Rebs: Larkins (13) Asts: Catchings (8)
Indiana win series, 3–1

Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Attendance: 15,213 Referees: Sue Blauch, Michael Price, Roy Gulbeyan

Rosters

Minnesota Lynx roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 1 Adair, Jessica 6' 4" (1.93m) 197 lb (89kg) 12-19-1986 George Washington 2 G/F 33 Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 04-30-1984 LSU 6 F 32 Brunson, Rebekkah 6' 2" (1.88m) 184 lb (83kg) 12-11-1981 Georgetown 8 F 6 Harris, Amber 6' 5" (1.96m) 202 lb (92kg) 01-16-1988 Xavier 1 F/C 8 McWilliams-Franklin, Taj 6' 2" (1.88m) 195 lb (88kg) 08-20-1970 St. Edward's 13 F 23 Moore, Maya 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) 06-11-1989 Connecticut 1 F 14 Peters, Devereaux 6' 2" (1.88m) 170 lb (77kg) 10-08-1989 Notre Dame R G 5 Thorn, Erin 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 05-19-1981 BYU 9 G 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m) 160 lb (73kg) 05-09-1982 Minnesota 8 G 11 Wiggins, Candice 5' 11" (1.8m) 147 lb (67kg) 02-14-1987 Stanford 4 G/F 22 Wright, Monica 5' 10" (1.78m) 171 lb (78kg) 07-15-1988 Virginia 2	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 24 Catchings, Tamika 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 07-21-1979 Tennessee 10 G/F 11 Christmas, Karima 6' 0" (1.83m) 180 lb (82kg) 09-11-1989 Duke 1 C 50 Davenport, Jessica 6' 5" (1.96m) 215 lb (98kg) 06-21-1985 Ohio State 5 G/F 23 Douglas, Katie 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 05-07-1979 Purdue 11 F 45 Goodlett, Sasha 6' 5" (1.96m) 239 lb (108kg) 08-09-1990 Georgia Tech R G 20 January, Briann 5' 8" (1.73m) 144 lb (65kg) 01-11-1987 Arizona State 3 F 2 Larkins, Erlana 6' 1" (1.85m) 202 lb (92kg) 04-02-1986 North Carolina 2 G 13 Phillips, Erin 5' 8" (1.73m) 165 lb (75kg) 05-19-1985 Australia 4 G 32 Pohlen, Jeanette 6' 0" (1.83m) 179 lb (81kg) 05-02-1989 Stanford 1 C 8 Sutton-Brown, Tammy 6' 4" (1.93m) 199 lb (90kg) 01-27-1978 Rutgers 11 G 1 Zellous, Shavonte 5' 10" (1.78m) 155 lb (70kg) 08-28-1986 Pittsburgh 3	Head coach Lin Dunn (Tennessee-Martin) Assistant coaches Mickie DeMoss (Louisiana Tech) Stephanie White (Purdue) Athletic trainer Todd Champlin (Daemen) Strength and conditioning coach Emily Novitsky (Slippery Rock) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured