WNBA Finals: Fowles leads Lynx to their 4th title
MINNEAPOLIS — Sylvia Fowles had 17 points and broke her own WNBA Finals record by grabbing 20 rebounds to lead Minnesota to its fourth championship in seven years with an 85-76 victory over Los Angeles in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Maya Moore had 18 points and 10 rebounds and hit a key basket with 26 seconds to play, Lindsay Whalen had 17 points and eight assists and Seimone Augustus added 14 points, six assists and six boards to help the Lynx move into a tie with the Houston Comets for most titles in league history.
“I think every time you do this, it gets a little more special because it gets a little harder,” Whalen said. “And more meaningful because you know it’s not easy. It’s not something we try to take for granted, ever.”
Candace Parker had 19 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for the Sparks, who were looking to become the first repeat champions in 15 years. Chelsea Gray had 15 points and eight assists, but Stanford alum Nneka Ogwumike fouled out with 5:29 to play and finished with 11 points. Los Angeles committed 17 turnovers.
With a team that had the makings of a new dynasty bearing down on it, Minnesota responded. The Lynx have been in the Finals in six of the last seven years and find themselves in the company of Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and the Comets that dominated the league’s early days.
“They wanted to take their place next to the Houston Comets,” head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “So they did it.”
The game the Lynx rule is bigger, faster and deeper, and the core of Moore, Rebekkah Brunson, Augustus and Whalen have had to earn everything they’ve accomplished. They led by 12 in the third quarter, but Los Angeles pushed right back, trimming the deficit to four at the start of the fourth.
A rivalry this tight just had to come down to a Game 5, and Minnesota forced it with an 80-69 victory Sunday in Los Angeles. The Sparks and Lynx went five games last year before Los Angeles won on a last-second putback by Ogwumike.