Minnesota Lynx win the 2011 WNBA championship – A Look back at their playoffs journey: Part 1
When the 2011 WNBA regular season started, nobody thought that a team that has not made it into the playoffs for the last seven years will go on to clinch the WNBA title for the first time in their franchise history.
Minnesota Lynx however made it a reality on Friday October 7, 2011.
After a 5-3 start to the regular season, Lynx went on to cap the regular season with 27-7 record and in doing so, not only topped the league by a clear margin, they also established themselves as the hot favourites for the holy
grail of WNBA. Their regular season performance was a 14-win improvement over previous season, their second best ever.
When the playoffs came, the march towards the title began. First in line were mighty the San Antonio Silver Stars. However, the relentless Lynx proved a bit too hot to handle for them and a 2-1 result in the Western Conference
semi-finals meant that Phoenix Mercury were next in line.
Mercury were swept emphatically and the Lynx booked a date with the two times Eastern Conference Champions Atlanta Dream in the grand finale.
In the WNBA Finals, Lynx once again proved to be a class apart. Despite lacking in experience, they kept on probing Dream in all the facets of the game and by the time game-3 of the best of series ended, Minnesota were crowned
as the new WNBA champion. Lynx guard/forward Seimone Augustus was the fuel that drove Lynx throughout journey and was chosen as Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the finals for her brilliant performance with an average of 24.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists
per game in the final series.
“I didn’t know they hadn’t won a championship within 20 years, so it definitely gives the people of Minnesota something to smile about, something to be happy about until the Vikings and the rest of the teams there get on track,”
said Augustus of their first pro title in 20 years. “This is a very bright moment for the fans there and for us.”
Here is a brief review of Minnesota’s brilliant performance during the WNBA playoffs:
Western Conference Semi-finals Game - 1: Minnesota 66 – San Antonio 65
Augustus scored 19 points, including a game-winning jumper with 53 seconds remaining, as Minnesota edged out Silver Stars 66-65 in the first game of the best-of-three semi-final series on September 16 at the Target Center.
Lindsay Whalen racked up a game-high 20 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists and stole the ball three times. Rookie Maya Moore also recorded 10 points while Rebekkah Brunson grabbed a game best 14 rebounds in
the victory.
Becky Hammon led San Antonio with 16 points on 4 for 7 shooting from three-point range. Danielle Adams also came off the bench with 16 points while Jia Perkins and Sophia Young added 10 points and two steals each in the loss.
San Antonio held a 35-32 lead at halftime however Minnesota outscored the visiting team 21-16 in the third quarter and converted their first half deficit into a 53-51 lead. In a closely contested fourth period, the score was tied
at 62 with 02:28 left in the final buzzer. Augustus then scored a lay-up to give Minnesota a two-point lead. Hammon responded with a three-pointer to put her team ahead by 65-64 but Augustus immediately made an 11-foot jumper to make it 66-65 for good.
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