Whalen returns home to Williams Arena for playoffs

Minneapolis — The Minnesota Lynx were uprooted from their home arena this season while it undergoes some much-needed renovations.

While they played in unfamiliar territory during the regular season, Lindsay Whalen will feel right at home in the playoffs. With Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul occupied this month, the Lynx are moving again to Williams Arena, on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

For a former Golden Gopher like Whalen, who helped put the program on the map with a stirring run to the Final Four in 2004, it’s a dream come true.

“I’m excited for everybody that hasn’t gotten a chance to play there to experience what it will be like to play in that arena, in that environment in a playoff-type situation,” Whalen said. “There’s really nothing quite like it.”

The top-seeded Lynx, in search of championship No. 4, play Washington in the semifinals. Game 1 is tonight.

The Mystics beat New York on Sunday thanks to a WNBA playoff-record nine 3-pointers from Kristi Toliver, who was a member of the Los Angeles Sparks team that beat Minnesota last year’s WNBA Finals.

“They are a phenomenal team, been to the finals so many times,” Mystics star Elena Delle Donne said. “They’ve got so many heads to the snake. “

Target Center was shut down for the summer while undergoing a massive face lift to try to upgrade an outdated facility in time for the Timberwolves to open their home schedule on Oct. 20. That meant the Lynx had to be displaced, as often happens to WNBA teams when scheduling conflicts come up, both during the season and in the playoffs.