Minnesota Lynx Beat LA Sparks 85-76 For Fourth WNBA Championship

Last year, the Minnesota Lynx lost to the Los Angeles Sparks in the final seconds of Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. This year was a different story.

Minnesota Lynx vs. LA Sparks WNBA Championship Game Score

The Lynx secured their fourth national championship on Wednesday night following an 85-76 victory over the Sparks at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

All five of the home team’s starters scored in double figures. Sylvia Fowles finished with 17 points and 20 rebounds, Maya Moore added 18 points and ten rebounds, and Lindsay Whalen had 17 points and eight assists.

Fowles became the first player since Seattle’s Lauren Jackson in 2010 to win both the regular-season MVP and WNBA Finals MVP. Minnesota previously won championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

The win came on the home court of Whalen’s alma mater, the University of Minnesota. The Lynx generally play at the Target Center, although the arena is being renovated.

Whalen — a point guard who hails from Hutchinson, Minnesota — led the Golden Gophers to the Women’s Final Four her senior year in 2004, and was then selected by the Connecticut Sun as the fourth overall draft pick. She played in the WNBA Finals twice with the Sun (2004, ’05) and then was traded back home in 2010.

“That’s something to really be proud of — that our team has had this big of an impact on our community, our league, and the sport,” Whalen said. “To have it be here in Minnesota where I grew up and played in college — it’s really cool.

The Lynx won only one playoff game in their first 12 seasons. This year, they finished the regular season (27-7) and beat the Sparks in the series 3-2 after defeating the Washington Mystics in three contests in the first round of the playoffs.

“When you go through a period of time when you’re successful, some of it is luck, and some is timing,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “As they say, you have to go through some failure before you go through success.”

Fowles is a two-time MVP, while Moore has four WNBA championships in addition to two NCAA titles at UConn and two Olympic gold medals.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 04: Odyssey Sims #1 of the Los Angeles Sparks and Lindsay Whalen #13 of the Minnesota Lynx go after a loose ball during the fourth quarter of Game Five of the WNBA Finals on October 4, 2017 at Williams in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Lynx defeated the Sparks 85-76 to win the championship.