# 2016 Minnesota Lynx season

The 2016 WNBA season of the Minnesota Lynx was the 18th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Lynx were the defending WNBA champions. Their 2016 roster included five competitors in the 2016 Rio Olympics (Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles, and Seimone Augustus of the U.S. squad and Anna Cruz of the Spanish team) as well as seven current or previous all-stars (Moore, Whalen, Fowles, Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Jia Perkins and Renee Montgomery) with 22 total past selections to the all-star game between them.
The Lynx started the season well, winning all six of their games in August. The closest game of the run was a three-point home win over Indiana on May 27. The Lynx carried their momentum into June and won their first seven games of the month to extend their winning streak to thirteen games. Los Angeles ended their winning streak on June 24 despite the Lynx having beaten Los Angeles three nights before. The Lynx lost the next two games, including an overtime game against New York to end June 7–3. The team won the first two games of July before losing to Connecticut by four-points on July 7. The Lynx then won their next six games in a row to finish July 8–1 and head into the Olympic break with an overall record of 21–4. They lost again by four points to Connecticut upon their return from the Olympic break, but re-gained their winning ways with a twelve-point win over Seattle. They extended their winning streak to five games before losing at Chicago in overtime. They won their last two games of the season to finish 28–6.
The Lynx' record of 28–6 earned them the first seed in the 2016 WNBA Playoffs. As the first seed, they received a bye to the semifinals where they matched-up against Phoenix. Minnesota won the first two games at home eighteen points and ten points. They dominated game three on the road, winning by fifteen points to win the series 3-0. Minnesota advanced to the WNBA Finals where they matched-up with Los Angeles. The Lynx were unable to win game one at home, losing by just two points. They rebounded with a nineteen point win in game two and evened the series as it moved to Los Angeles. The Lynx lost game three by seventeen points, but staved off elimination in game four, winning by six points. The deciding game five was in Minnesota, but home court advantage was not enough for the Lynx to repeat as champions. The Lynx lost the game by one-point on a last second shot.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

The Lynx made three selections in the 2016 WNBA Entry Draft in Uncasville, Connecticut:
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | WNBA Team | School/Team/Country |
| 2 | 14 | Jazmon Gwathmey | United States | Minnesota Lynx (then traded to San Antonio) | James Madison |
| 2 | 22 | Bashaara Graves | United States | Minnesota Lynx | Tennessee |
| 3 | 35 | Temi Fagbenle | United Kingdom | Minnesota Lynx | USC |

### Trades and roster changes

| Date | Trade |
| February 2 | Re-signed Sylvia Fowles |
| February 2 | The Lynx acquired Natasha Howard from the Indiana Fever in exchange for Devereaux Peters |
| February 2 | Signed Renee Montgomery |
| April 14 | The Lynx acquired the rights to Jazmon Gwathmey from the San Antonio Stars in exchange for Jia Perkins |

## Game log
### Preseason

2016 pre-season game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0) :
Pre-season: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 5
@ New York
W 77–74
Renee Montgomery (17)
Courtney Clements (5)
6 players (2)
Levien Gymnasium 1,028
1–0
2
May 8
Washington
L 68–85
Keisha Hampton (15)
Natasha Howard (6)
Moore, Montgomery (4)
Mayo Civic Center 4,524
1–1 :
2016 season schedule :

### Regular season

2016 game log Total: 28–6 (Home: 15–2; Road: 13–4) :
May: 6–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 4–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 14
Phoenix
W 95–76
Maya Moore (27)
Sylvia Fowles (14)
Maya Moore (10)
Target Center 9,221
1–0
2
May 18
@ Chicago
W 97–80
Sylvia Fowles (24)
Sylvia Fowles (13)
Augustus, Moore (6)
Allstate Arena 5,034
2–0
3
May 22
Seattle
W 78–71
Maya Moore (17)
Maya Moore (9)
Maya Moore (4)
KeyArena 9,686
3–0
4
May 25
@ Phoenix
W 85–78
Maya Moore (34)
Rebekkah Brunson (10)
Lindsay Whalen (7)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,368
4–0
5
May 27
Indiana
W 74–71
Augustus, Whalen (12)
Janel McCarville (9)
Maya Moore (8)
Target Center 7,503
5–0
6
May 31
@ New York
W 79–69
Maya Moore (25)
Rebekkah Brunson (7)
Renee Montgomery (4)
Madison Square Garden 7,356
6–0 :
June
: 7–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 4–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
7June 4DallasW 80–63Sylvia Fowles (16)Rebekkah Brunson (8)Lindsay Whalen (8)Target Center 7,6347–0
8June 7PhoenixW 89–81Fowles, Moore (21)Rebekkah Brunson (9)Brunson, Montgomery, Moore (4)Target Center 7,2078–0
9June 10@ AtlantaW 110–78Maya Moore (19)Sylvia Fowles (11)Montgomery, Perkins (5)Philips Arena 5,3689–0
10June 11@ WashingtonW 83–76Seimone Augustus (21)Rebekkah Brunson (12)Maya Moore (5)Capital One Arena 7,75110–0
11June 14IndianaW 87–63Maya Moore (16)Fowles, Moore (8)Lindsay Whalen (6)Target Center 7,62311–0
12June 19@ SeattleW 96–84Maya Moore (18)Maya Moore (7)Renee Montgomery (10)KeyArena 5,74912–0
13June 21@ Los AngelesW 72–69Seimone Augustus (13)Sylvia Fowles (11)McCarville, Montgomery (4)Staples Center 9,11213–0
14June 24Los AngelesL 76–94Maya Moore (28)Sylvia Fowles (11)Maya Moore (4)Target Center 13,00313–1
15June 26@ WashingtonL 63–87Sylvia Fowles (13)Jia Perkins (6)Seimone Augustus (5)Capital One Arena 6,32213–2
16June 29New YorkL 92–95 (OT)Maya Moore (24)Rebekkah Brunson (10)Rebekkah Brunson (5)Target Center 7,72113–3 :
July
: 8–1 (Home: 6–0; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17July 2San AntonioW 91–68Natasha Howard (21)Rebekkah Brunson (12)Maya Moore (5)Target Center 7,53414–3
18July 5ChicagoW 87–82Maya Moore (33)Rebekkah Brunson (8)Lindsay Whalen (4)Target Center 7,43315–3
19July 7@ ConnecticutL 89–93Maya Moore (40)Maya Moore (8)Jia Perkins (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,73915–4
20July 9DallasW 93–56Lindsay Wahlen (22)Sylvia Fowles (10)Maya Moore (7)Target Center 7,61316–4
21July 12@ San AntonioW 81–57Maya Moore (22)Sylvia Fowles (8)Maya Moore (7)AT&T Center 11,17117–4
22July 15New YorkW 88–70Seimone Augustus (20)Seimone Augustus (7)Lindsay Whalen (8)Target Center 8,12318–4
23July 17@ DallasW 98–97 (OT)Maya Moore (20)Sylvia Fowles (19)Maya Moore (6)College Park Center 5,75219–4
24July 20AtlantaW 83–65Seimone Augustus (19)Rebekkah Brunson (12)Seimone Augustus (5)Target Center 16,13220–4
25July 22SeattleW 79–72Maya Moore (21)Sylvia Fowles (12)Renee Montgomery (6)Target Center 12,12421–4 :
August
: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
26August 26@ ConnecticutL 80–84Fowles, Whalen (16)Rebekkah Brunson (11)Moore, Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,38121–5
27August 28SeattleW 92–80Lindsay Whalen (24)Sylvia Fowles (11)Natasha Howard (4)Target Center 11,83422–5 :
September
: 6–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
28September 2WashingtonW 75–69Maya Moore (27)Sylvia Fowles (17)McCarville, Whalen (4)Target Center 7,52323–5
29September 4ConnecticutW 93–79Maya Moore (24)Sylvia Fowles (8)Lindsay Whalen (6)Target Center 7,63224–5
30September 6@ Los AngelesW 77–74Sylvia Fowles (21)Rebekkah Brunson (11)Fowles, Moore, Whalen (3)Staples Center 7,22425–5
31September 11@ San AntonioW 81–76Seimone Augustus (20)Rebekkah Brunson (11)Maya Moore (6)AT&T Center 5,70526–5
32September 13@ ChicagoL 97–98 (OT)Maya Moore (27)Fowles, Howard (7)Maya Moore (5)Allstate Arena 6,05027–5
33September 16@ IndianaW 82–75Maya Moore (15)Rebekkah Brunson (9)Cruz, Montgomery (4)Bankers Life Fieldhouse 8,66327–6
34September 17AtlantaW 95–87Sylvia Fowles (30)Natasha Howard (9)Maya Moore (8)Target Center 11,66328–6 :
2016 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2016 playoff game log Total: 5–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 2–1) :
Semifinals vs. Phoenix Won Series: 3–0
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 28
Phoenix
W 113–95
Maya Moore (31)
Sylvia Fowles (10)
Augustus, Whalen (7)
Xcel Energy Center 9,013
1–0
2
September 30
Phoenix
W 96–86
Maya Moore (26)
Rebekkah Brunson (11)
Maya Moore (5)
Xcel Energy Center 11,923
2–0
3
October 2
Phoenix
W 82–67
Maya Moore (20)
Rebekkah Brunson (9)
Lindsay Whalen (5)
US Airways Center 9,631
3–0 :
Finals vs. Los Angeles Lost Series: 2–3
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1October 9Los AngelesL 76–78Fowles, Moore, Whalen (18)Sylvia Fowles (13)Lindsay Whalen (6)Target Center 12,1130–1
2October 11Los AngelesW 79–60Maya Moore (21)Sylvia Fowles (15)Sylvia Fowles (4)Target Center 12,8321–1
3October 14@ Los AngelesL 75–92Brunson, Fowles (14)Maya Moore (7)Maya Moore (5)Galen Center 8,0931–2
4October 16@ Los AngelesW 85–79Maya Moore (31)Sylvia Fowles (13)Augustus, Moore (5)Staples Center 12,8852–2
5October 20Los AngelesL 76–77Maya Moore (23)Brunson, Fowles (9)Maya Moore (11)Target Center 19,4232–3 :
2016 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 - Minnesota Lynx | 28 | 6 | .824 | — | 15–2 | 13–4 | 15–1 |
| 2 - Los Angeles Sparks | 26 | 8 | .765 | 2 | 14–3 | 12–5 | 11–5 |
| 7 - Seattle Storm | 16 | 18 | .471 | 12 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 7–9 |
| 8 - Phoenix Mercury | 16 | 18 | .471 | 12 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 6–10 |
| e - Dallas Wings | 11 | 23 | .324 | 17 | 6–11 | 5–12 | 8–8 |
| e - San Antonio Stars | 7 | 27 | .206 | 21 | 4–13 | 3–14 | 1–15 |

## Playoffs

The Lynx qualified for the 2016 playoffs, and, as the team with the best regular season record in the WNBA, received two automatic byes, advancing straight to the best-of-five semifinal against the eighth-seeded Phoenix Mercury. They swept the Mercury three games to none to advance to the 2016 WNBA Finals.
| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 113 | 96 | 82 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | New York Liberty | 94 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | Phoenix Mercury | 95 | 86 | 67 | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Indiana Fever | 78 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 76 | 79 | 75 | 85 | 76 |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 89 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 78 | 60 | 92 | 79 | 77 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 95 | 99 | 66 | 95 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Chicago Sky | 108 | 4 | Chicago Sky | 75 | 84 | 70 | 75 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Atlanta Dream | 94 | 6 | Atlanta Dream | 98 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Seattle Storm | 85 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

## Statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Maya Moore | 34 | 34 | 29.7 | 44.8% | 40.4% | 86.8% | 5.1 | 4.2 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 19.3 |
| Sylvia Fowles | 34 | 34 | 28.5 | 59.5% | — | 71.7% | 8.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 13.9 |
| Seimone Augustus | 29 | 29 | 26.4 | 46.0% | 33.3% | 80.4% | 2.9 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 11.2 |
| Rebekkah Brunson | 33 | 33 | 24.6 | 47.7% | 0.0% | 85.7% | 7.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7.4 |
| Lindsay Whalen | 32 | 32 | 24.6 | 51.3% | 27.3% | 89.2% | 2.6 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 9.8 |
| Jia Perkins | 34 | 5 | 20.7 | 36.6% | 22.8% | 83.3% | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 6.4 |
| Renee Montgomery | 34 | 2 | 19.3 | 39.7% | 32.1% | 82.8% | 0.9 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 7.5 |
| Natasha Howard | 34 | 1 | 14.6 | 57.4% | 20.0% | 67.7% | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 6.7 |
| Janel McCarville | 33 | 0 | 12.6 | 45.7% | 18.2% | 60.0% | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.3 |
| Anna Cruz | 6 | 0 | 10.0 | 45.5 | 100% | 100% | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| Keisha Hampton | 27 | 0 | 6.8 | 33.3% | 33.3% | 87.0% | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.6 |
| Bashaara Graves | 12 | 0 | 3.4 | 28.6% | — | — | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Maya Moore | 8 | 8 | 32.9 | 51.7% | 38.7% | 93.5% | 7.3 | 4.6 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 22.4 |
| Lindsay Whalen | 8 | 8 | 26.6 | 56.9% | 42.9% | 83.3% | 1.9 | 3.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 13.1 |
| Sylvia Fowles | 8 | 8 | 31.4 | 61.1% | — | 75.0% | 9.8 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 12.9 |
| Seimone Augustus | 8 | 8 | 26.9 | 39.3% | 25.0% | 87.0% | 2.9 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 11.1 |
| Rebekkah Brunson | 8 | 8 | 29.3 | 47.3% | — | 79.2% | 6.5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 8.9 |
| Natasha Howard | 8 | 0 | 13.0 | 70.0% | — | 42.9% | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 5.6 |
| Jia Perkins | 8 | 0 | 17.6 | 39.0% | 10.0% | 100% | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 5.1 |
| Renee Montgomery | 8 | 0 | 12.6 | 37.0% | 44.4% | 90.0% | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 4.1 |
| Keisha Hampton | 4 | 0 | 2.0 | 50.0% | 33.3% | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Anna Cruz | 6 | 0 | 8.5 | 20.0% | 50.0% | — | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| Janel McCarville | 4 | 0 | 4.8 | 40.0% | — | — | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |

## Awards

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Maya Moore | All-WNBA First Team | October 14, 2016 |
| Maya Moore | Western Conference Player of the Month - August | September 1, 2016 |
| Maya Moore | Western Conference Player of the Month - May | June 1, 2016 |
| Maya Moore | Western Conference Player of the Week | July 11, 2016 |
| Maya Moore | Western Conference Player of the Week | June 6, 2016 |
| Maya Moore | Western Conference Player of the Week | May 23, 2016 |
| Sylvia Fowles | Defensive Player of the Year Award | September 30, 2016 |
| Sylvia Fowles | All-Defensive First Team | September 30, 2016 |
| Sylvia Fowles | All-WNBA Second Team | October 14, 2016 |
| Cheryl Reeve | Coach of the Year Award | September 30, 2016 |