WNBA set to crown first-time champion

NEW YORK — The WNBA will crown a first-time champion when the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun meet in the league’s bestof-five finals beginning today.

It’s the first time that’s happened since 2011. The Mystics will try and win the title after getting swept in the finals last season, while the Sun return to the championship for the first time since 2005.

It’s the third time since the WNBA changed its playoff format in 2016 that the top two seeds advanced to play for the title. Washington, as a three-seed last year, is the only team not to finish 1 or 2 in the regular-season standings to reach the championship round.

Here are a few things to watch for in the WNBA Finals:

EASTERN DOMINANCE

Even though there really aren’t conferences in the WNBA since the playoff format change in 2016, the former East will have the champion. It’s only the second time since 2009 that an Eastern team will win. The Indiana Fever were champions in 2012. Since the league’s first championship in 1997, the East has won four titles (three by Detroit and Indiana’s).

TOUGH TERPS

Maryland will be well represented in the finals with five of coach Brenda Frese’s former players competing. Washington has Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (‘17), Tianna Hawkins (‘13) and Kristi Toliver (‘09) while the

Mystics feature Brionna Jones (‘17) and Alyssa Thomas (‘14). Washington also has Kiara Leslie, who played two years at Maryland before transferring to N.C. State for her final two seasons. She hasn’t played this year because of a knee injury.

Only Toliver won a championship in college and she’s also the only one to win a WNBA title, doing so with Los Angeles in 2016.

DISREPECTED

The Connecticut Sun have relished playing the role of the underdog lately. The team, despite finishing second, had no players win major WNBA awards. The Sun have been selling T-shirts during their playoff run that read DisrespeCT with the CT highlighted.

“I just don’t think people have been paying attention to how we’ve played all season,” said Sun forward Alyssa Thomas.