2013 WNBA Finals

The 2013 WNBA Finals was the playoff series for the 2013 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the conclusion of the season's playoffs.[1] The Minnesota Lynx, champions of the Western Conference, defeated the Atlanta Dream, champions of the Eastern Conference.

2013 WNBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve 3
Atlanta Dream Fred Williams 0
DatesOctober 6–10
MVPMaya Moore Minnesota
Eastern FinalsAtlanta defeated Indiana, 2–0
Western FinalsMinnesota defeated Phoenix, 2–0
Game 1 of the 2013 Finals

The WNBA Finals were under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (26–8) than the Dream (17–17). The meeting is a rematch of the 2011 WNBA Finals, in which the Lynx defeated the Dream in three games.

The Lynx won the first game of the series 84–59, and the second 88–63.[2] They finished the sweep with an 86–77 win in Atlanta, becoming the second WNBA team to sweep through the playoffs since the best-of-five finals format was adopted.

Background

2013 WNBA regular season

# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB GP
1 z-Chicago Sky2410.706-34
2 x-Atlanta Dream1717.500734
3 x-Washington Mystics1717.500734
4 x-Indiana Fever1618.471834
5 e-New York Liberty1123.3241334
6 e-Connecticut Sun1024.2941434
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB GP
1 z-Minnesota Lynx268.765-34
2 x-Los Angeles Sparks2410.706234
3 x-Phoenix Mercury1915.559734
4 x-Seattle Storm1717.500934
5 e-San Antonio Silver Stars1222.3531434
6 e-Tulsa Shock1123.3241534

2013 WNBA Playoffs

Minnesota LynxAtlanta Dream
26–8 (.765)
1st West, 1st overall
Seeding 17–17 (.500)
2nd East, 6th overall
Defeated the (4) Seattle Storm, 2–0 Conference Semifinals Defeated the (3) Washington Mystics, 2–1
Defeated the (3) Phoenix Mercury, 2–0 Conference Finals Defeated the (4) Indiana Fever, 2–0

Atlanta Dream

The Atlanta Dream finished 17-17, good for second place in the Eastern Conference. They defeated the Washington Mystics in three games in the conference semifinals, and swept fourth-seeded Indiana, the defending WNBA champions, who had upset the top seed, the Chicago Sky, in the first round.

The Dream featured Angel McCoughtry, who won her second consecutive scoring title in 2013, as well as Brazilian center Erika de Souza. However, the Dream played the Finals without Sancho Lyttle, who had gone down with an injury during the season.

Minnesota Lynx

The Minnesota Lynx finished with the best record in the WNBA for the third straight year.. The Lynx swept both fourth-seeded Seattle and pre-season favorites Phoenix to win their third consecutive Western Conference crown.

The Lynx returned their core nucleus of Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore, and Lindsay Whalen, all of whom played on the Lynx's 2011 championship team.

Regular-season series

The season series was tied, 1-1:

Series summary

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

Game 1

The Minnesota Lynx came out determined not to lose game one at home as they had in the 2012 WNBA Finals. Maya Moore led the Lynx with 23 points, and Monica Wright added 20 off the bench as the Lynx cruised past the dream 84-59. Angel McCoughtry led the Dream with 17 points.[3]

October 6
8:30pm ET
Atlanta Dream 59, Minnesota Lynx 84
Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 9–20, 18–24, 16–16
Pts: Angel McCoughtry 17
Rebs: Aneika Henry 14
Asts: Armintie Herrington 3
Pts: Maya Moore 23
Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 8
Asts: Lindsay Whalen 5
Minnesota Leads Series 1–0
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 13,804
Referees: Michael Price, Cameron Inouye, Kurt Walker

Game 2

The Lynx came out on fire in Game 2, opening up an 11-point lead after the first quarter that they would never relinquish. Seimone Augustus led the Lynx in scoring with 20 points, and all five starters finished the game in double figures. Angel McCoughtry was hampered by foul trouble throughout the night, and ultimately fouled out in the fourth quarter.[4]

October 8
8:00pm ET
Atlanta Dream 63, Minnesota Lynx 88
Scoring by quarter: 16-27, 20-24, 16-17, 11-20
Pts: Angel McCoughtry 15
Rebs: Aneika Henry 6
Asts: Angel McCoughtry 4
Pts: Seimone Augustus 20
Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 10
Asts: Lindsay Whalen 5
Minnesota Leads Series 2–0
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 12,313
Referees: Eric Brewton, Sue Blauch, Daryl Humphrey

Game 3

The Lynx opened up an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but Atlanta battled back several times, cutting the lead to 3 at halftime. Ultimately, however, the balanced attack of Minnesota was simply too much for the Dream to overcome; the Lynx won 86–77, earning their second WNBA title in three years, and becoming the second WNBA team to sweep the playoffs. Maya Moore of the Lynx was named WNBA Finals MVP.[5][6]

October 10
8:30pm ET
Minnesota Lynx 86, Atlanta Dream 77
Scoring by quarter: 25–17, 15–20, 26–19, 20–21
Pts: Maya Moore 23
Rebs: Rebekkah Brunson 12
Asts: Lindsay Whalen 6
Pts: Tiffany Hayes 20
Rebs: Érika de Souza 9
Asts: Alex Bentley 6
Minnesota Wins Series 3–0
Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA
Attendance: 5040
Referees: Lamont Simpson, Denise Brooks, Brenda Pantoja

Rosters

Minnesota Lynx roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
G/F 33 Augustus, Seimone 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 04-30-1984 LSU
F 32 Brunson, Rebekkah 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 12-11-1981 Georgetown
F 11 Harris, Amber 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 01-16-1988 Xavier
G 12 Jarry, Rachel 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 12-06-1991 Australia
C 4 McCarville, Janel 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 11-03-1982 Minnesota
G 00 Moore, Lindsey 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 153 lb (69 kg) 06-03-1991 Nebraska
F 23 Moore, Maya 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 06-11-1989 Connecticut
F 14 Peters, Devereaux 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 10-08-1989 Notre Dame
G 15 Rodgers, Sugar 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 12-08-1989 Georgetown
G 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 05-09-1982 Minnesota
G/F 22 Wright, Monica 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 171 lb (78 kg) 07-15-1988 Virginia
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
Atlanta Dream roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
G 2 Bentley, Alex 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 152 lb (69 kg) 10-27-1990 Penn State
G 54 Clements, Courtney 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 155 lb (70 kg) 11-12-1989 San Diego State
F/C 14 de Souza, Erika 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 03-03-1982 Brazil
G 15 Hayes, Tiffany 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) 09-20-1989 Connecticut
F 13 Henry, Aneika 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 02-13-1986 Florida
G/F 22 Herrington, Armintie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 133 lb (60 kg) 04-03-1985 Mississippi
C 11 Leuchanka, Yelena 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 04-30-1983 West Virginia
F 20 Lyttle, Sancho  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 09-20-1983 Houston
F 35 McCoughtry, Angel 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 09-10-1986 Louisville
F/C 00 Riley, Ruth 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 11-28-1979 Notre Dame
G 5 Thomas, Jasmine 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 145 lb (66 kg) 09-30-1989 Duke
F 43 Willingham, Le'Coe 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 02-10-1981 Auburn
Head coach
Fred Williams (Boise State)
Assistant coaches
Joe Ciampi (Mansfield)
Julie Plank (Ohio State)
Athletic trainer
Kim Mosely (Southern Miss)
Strength and conditioning coach
Dustin Wolf (Tennessee)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

References

  1. WNBA.com
  2. Lynx rout Atlanta 84–59 in Game 1 of WNBA Finals
  3. "Moore leads Lynx past Dream 84–59 in Game 1". Archived from the original on 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  4. "WNBA Box Score, October 8, 2013". Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  5. "Game Report, Minnesota at Atlanta". Archived from the original on 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  6. "Lynx sweep Dream, win second WNBA title in three seasons". ESPN. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
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