The 2011 WNBA Finals was the championship
series
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used in ...
of the
2011 season of the
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...
(WNBA), and the conclusion of
the season's playoffs. The
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
, champions of the
Western Conference, swept the champions of the
Eastern Conference, the
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
in three games.
The WNBA Finals was under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held
home-court advantage
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...
as they had a better regular season record (27–7) than the Dream (20–14). The 2011 Finals marked the first time the teams met in the championship round. The Lynx made their first ever appearance in the Finals while the Dream were making their second consecutive appearance, after appearing in the
2010 championship series.
Prior to 2011 the Minnesota franchise had not won a playoff series. They had not qualified for the postseason since 2004. Only four players had postseason experience:
Rebekkah Brunson
Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only playe ...
,
Alexis Hornbuckle
Alexis Kay'ree Hornbuckle (born October 16, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who played several seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association. She is the only player to win an NCAA title and WNBA title in the same year ...
,
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player.
A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has ...
and
Lindsay Whalen. To advance to the Finals, the Lynx defeated
Diana Taurasi
Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has w ...
and the
Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...
2–0 in the
Western Conference Finals. Atlanta won its second straight
Eastern Conference championship by defeating the top-seeded
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...
2–1 in the
Eastern Conference Finals.
This was the first time in WNBA history that both Finals teams were coached by women. Minnesota's
Cheryl Reeve
Cheryl Reeve (born September 20, 1966) is an American basketball head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. Reeve has coached the Lynx to four league championships. In WNBA history, she has the highest ...
had been involved with the WNBA since 2001; she won championships with the
Detroit Shock
The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions.
Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. ...
in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
as an assistant to
Bill Laimbeer
William J. Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his rough and violent style of play, he played a big part in the P ...
. This was the second consecutive Finals series to feature the most recent
Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award.
Some of the ...
; Reeve won the award in 2011 (
Seattle's Brian Agler
Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American women's professional basketball coach. He previously coached the Dallas Wings from 2019 to 2020. He also had previously been head coach of the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, each of whom ...
won in 2010). Atlanta's
Marynell Meadors
Marynell Meadors (born August 27, 1943) is an American women's basketball coach at the college and professional level. She most recently served as head coach and general manager of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association a ...
, the 2009 Coach of the Year, was one of the league's original eight head coaches, leading the
Charlotte Sting
The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007.
The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...
to a 15–13 record in their inaugural season.
The 2011 WNBA Finals were the first since 2005 to feature two teams that had not previously won a WNBA championship.
The Lynx won the opening game of the series 88–74, using a 13–0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to break open a close game. They then won their second home game 101-95 behind 36 points from
Seimone Augustus
Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...
. Dream forward
Angel McCoughtry
Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry complet ...
scored 35 points in Game 1 and 38 in Game 2, matching and surpassing her finals scoring record from
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
In Game 3, the Lynx trailed the Dream at halftime again, but shut down the Dream in the third quarter, holding them to eight points and taking a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Dream closed to within one point in the fourth quarter, but never retook the lead; the Lynx won the game 73–67, clinching their first title.
Background
2011 WNBA regular season
2011 WNBA Playoffs
Regular season series
The Lynx won the regular season series:
Atlanta Dream
Again, the Dream advanced to the WNBA Finals for the second straight year by overcoming not having homecourt advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
faced adversity early in the season due to
Sancho Lyttle
Sancho Lyttle (born September 20, 1983) is a Vincentian-Spanish former professional basketball player for the WNBA. Combining the WNBA and the European season, she has won six domestic leagues and four Euroleague titles with four teams in thre ...
's overseas commitments and an injury to
Angel McCoughtry
Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry complet ...
. To the advantage of the Dream, the core group of players returned from the team's 2010 run to the Finals. The addition of former first-overall draft pick
Lindsey Harding
Lindsey Marcie Harding (born June 12, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. She serves as player development coach of the Sacramento Kings. Throughout her playing career, Harding played for the Minnesota Lynx, Was ...
as starting point guard helped the team even further. After starting the season with a dreadful 3–9 record, the Dream caught fire to go 17–5 to finish the season and entered the playoffs with the same momentum. As the No. 3 seed in the
Eastern Conference, the Dream eliminated the No. 2 seeded
Connecticut Sun
The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
The team was established ...
in a two-game sweep during the conference playoff semifinals. In the Eastern Conference finals, the Dream went on to eliminate the top-seeded
Indiana Fever
The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...
in three games.
Minnesota Lynx
Though they had not previously won a playoff series in franchise history, the
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
entered the season with a significant amount of buzz after drafting
Maya Moore
Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx, who is currently on sabbatical. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the greates ...
first overall in the
2011 WNBA Draft. The addition of Moore, along with the full recovery of
Seimone Augustus
Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...
from abdominal surgery, was seen as the final piece that could propel the Lynx from perennial also-ran status to a potential playoff run. The Lynx ultimately finished with the best record in the WNBA and in franchise history, finishing the regular season with a 27–7 record. As the No. 1 seed in the
Western Conference, the Lynx eliminated the No. 4 seeded
San Antonio Silver Stars
The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...
in three games during the conference playoff semifinals. In the Western Conference finals, the Lynx went on to eliminate the
Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...
in two games.
Series summary
:''All times are in
Eastern Daylight Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
(
UTC−4).''
Game 1
Rebekkah Brunson
Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only playe ...
had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Seimone Augustus added 22 points to lead the Lynx to an 88–74 victory over the Dream.
Lindsay Whalen added 15 points and six assists and the Lynx turned a close game into a runaway with a 13–0 run to open the fourth quarter.
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player.
A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has ...
added eight points and 10 boards while battling an illness.
Angel McCoughtry
Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry complet ...
scored 19 of her 33 points in the third quarter and
Lindsey Harding
Lindsey Marcie Harding (born June 12, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. She serves as player development coach of the Sacramento Kings. Throughout her playing career, Harding played for the Minnesota Lynx, Was ...
scored 20 points for the Dream.
Atlanta led by 12 points midway through the second quarter and three at halftime. The Lynx evened the score after three quarters at 62 each. With starting center
Erika de Souza
Erika may refer to:
Arts and Entertainment
* Hayasaka Erika (''Megatokyo)''
* Erika (''Friends'')
* Erika (''Pokémon'')
* Erika (''Underworld'')
* Erika Itsumi ''(Girls und Panzer)''
* ''Erika'' (film), a 1971 Italian thriller film
* "E ...
missing the game while playing for Brazil in an Olympic qualifying tournament, the Dream were outrebounded 40–28 and outscored in the paint 52–30.
The Lynx blocked a WNBA finals record 11 shots and held Atlanta to 37 percent shooting in their first finals game in franchise history.
The crowd of 15,258 was the second-largest in franchise history.
Game 2
Seimone Augustus
Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...
scored 36 points to lead Minnesota's second-half surge, and the Lynx beat the
Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
101–95 in Game 2 of the league championship series.
Jessica Adair
Jessica Elizabeth Adair (born December 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who played most recently for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA. Adair is currently playing for the Townsville Fire in the Australian WNBL.
Personal
Bo ...
added 13 points in 18 minutes in a reserve role for the Lynx, who took a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five matchup by overcoming 38 points by the Dream's
Angel McCoughtry
Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry complet ...
, who broke her own finals scoring record of 35, set against the
Seattle Storm
The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...
in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
With veteran center
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player.
A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has ...
on the bench with a sprained right knee, WNBA Rookie of the Year
Maya Moore
Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx, who is currently on sabbatical. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the greates ...
sitting for most of the game in foul trouble and fellow All-Star
Rebekkah Brunson
Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only playe ...
having a quiet game, Augustus took over.
The Lynx took a 77–76 lead early in the fourth, their first edge since 20–19, and used a 10–0 spurt to turn an 85–81 deficit with five minutes to go into a comfortable lead in the closing minutes.
McCoughtry had 24 points in the first half on 8 for 9 shooting, but she shot just 2 for 13 after halftime. Atlanta criticized the officiating of Sue Blauch, Lamont Simpson and Kurt Walker, noting that the Lynx had received 33 foul calls to 23 for Atlanta.
Dream try to avoid being swept by Lynx in Finals
/ref>
Iziane Castro Marques
Iziane "Izi" Castro Marques (born March 13, 1982) is a retired Brazilian professional basketball player. Castro Marques played for the Brazil women's national basketball team and played for the Miami Sol, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm, Atlanta ...
was twice fouled while taking a 3-pointer and made only one of those six free-throw attempts. Lindsey Harding
Lindsey Marcie Harding (born June 12, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. She serves as player development coach of the Sacramento Kings. Throughout her playing career, Harding played for the Minnesota Lynx, Was ...
had 10 of her 14 points in the first half for the Dream. Erika de Souza
Erika may refer to:
Arts and Entertainment
* Hayasaka Erika (''Megatokyo)''
* Erika (''Friends'')
* Erika (''Pokémon'')
* Erika (''Underworld'')
* Erika Itsumi ''(Girls und Panzer)''
* ''Erika'' (film), a 1971 Italian thriller film
* "E ...
finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Game 3
Seimone Augustus
Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...
and the Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
turned up the defensive pressure on Angel McCoughtry
Angel Lajuane McCoughtry (born September 10, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. McCoughtry complet ...
and the Atlanta Dream
The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real ...
.
Augustus had 16 points and Maya Moore
Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx, who is currently on sabbatical. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the greates ...
, returning to her Atlanta home, had 15–including a key 3-pointer late in the game–to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Lynx won their first WNBA title.
McCoughtry had a game-high 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. McCoughtry made only 9 of 25 shots as the Dream were held to 34.6 percent shooting from the field.
Erika de Souza
Erika may refer to:
Arts and Entertainment
* Hayasaka Erika (''Megatokyo)''
* Erika (''Friends'')
* Erika (''Pokémon'')
* Erika (''Underworld'')
* Erika Itsumi ''(Girls und Panzer)''
* ''Erika'' (film), a 1971 Italian thriller film
* "E ...
, who had 11 points, was Atlanta's only other scorer in double figures.
Minnesota had four scorers in double figures as Rebekkah Brunson
Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only playe ...
had 13 points and nine rebounds and Candice Wiggins
Candice Dana Wiggins (born February 14, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. Wiggins played college basketball at Stanford University, where she graduated as the all-time leading scorer in Stanford and Pac-10 women's basket ...
had 10 points.
Poor shooting from the field forced Atlanta to foul in the final minute.
Two free throws by Taj McWilliams-Franklin
Taj McWilliams-Franklin (born October 20, 1970) is a former American professional women's basketball player.
A two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock and Minnesota Lynx and six-time all-star, McWilliams-Franklin's professional career has ...
and another by Lindsay Whalen pushed the lead to 67–63. Following a miss by Izi Castro Marques
Iziane "Izi" Castro Marques (born March 13, 1982) is a retired Brazilian professional basketball player. Castro Marques played for the Brazil women's national basketball team and played for the Miami Sol, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm, Atlanta D ...
, McWilliams-Franklin added two more free throws with 35 seconds remaining.
McCoughtry had two late layups, but the Dream could come no closer than four points in the final 30 seconds.
Seimone Augustus
Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...
was named Finals MVP, averaging 24.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists per game in the series and shooting 58.7% (27–46) from the floor.
Awards
*2011 WNBA Champions: Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
* Finals MVP: Seimone Augustus
Seimone Delicia Augustus (born April 30, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted first overa ...
Rosters
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, -
{, class="toccolours" style="font-size: 85%; width: 100%;"
, -
! colspan="2" style="background-color: #6495ED; color: white; text-align: center;" , 2011 Atlanta Dream Finals roster
, - style="background-color: #FF0000;color: white; text-align: center;"
! Players !! Coaches
, -
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, -
References
{{NBA on ABC
Finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
Women's National Basketball Association Finals
2011 in sports in Minnesota
2011 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
October 2011 sports events in the United States
Minnesota Lynx
Atlanta Dream
Sports competitions in Minneapolis
Sports competitions in Atlanta
2011 in Atlanta
2010s in Minneapolis