# 2012 WNBA season

The 2012 WNBA season was the 16th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 18 and concluded on September 23 and playoffs started on September 27 and concluded on October 21.

## 2011/2012 WNBA offseason

* The new television deal with ESPN continued during the 2012 season (runs 2009–2016). For the first time ever, teams will be paid rights fees as part of this deal.
* On January 3, 2012, the Tulsa Shock named former Indiana assistant coach Gary Kloppenburg head coach.
* On January 5, 2012, the Los Angeles Sparks named former Atlanta assistant coach Carol Ross head coach.
* The Seattle Storm trade three time WNBA champion Swin Cash to the Chicago Sky.
* The New York Liberty played home games for the next two seasons at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, due to summer renovations at Madison Square Garden.

## 2012 WNBA draft

The WNBA Draft lottery was held on November 10, 2011. The lottery teams were the Tulsa Shock, Minnesota Lynx (from Wash.), Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks. The top pick was awarded to Los Angeles.
The 2012 WNBA Draft was held on April 16, 2012, in Bristol, Connecticut. Coverage of the first round was shown on ESPN (HD). Second and third round coverage was shown on ESPNU and NBA TV.

## Regular season

Due to the 2012 Summer Olympics, there was no All-Star Game this season as the Olympiad caused a break from mid-July through August.

### Standings

| Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Connecticut Sun $^y$ | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 12–5 | 13–4 | 18–4 |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 22 | 12 | .647 | 3.0 | 13–4 | 9–8 | 15–7 |
| Atlanta Dream $^x$ | 19 | 15 | .559 | 6.0 | 11–6 | 8–9 | 12–10 |
| New York Liberty $^x$ | 15 | 19 | .441 | 10.0 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| Chicago Sky $^o$ | 14 | 20 | .412 | 11.0 | 7–10 | 7–10 | 8–14 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 5 | 29 | .147 | 20.0 | 4–13 | 1–16 | 3–19 |
| Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Minnesota Lynx $^z$ | 27 | 7 | .794 | – | 16–1 | 11–6 | 17–5 |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^x$ | 24 | 10 | .706 | 3.0 | 16–1 | 8–9 | 15–7 |
| San Antonio Silver Stars $^x$ | 21 | 13 | .618 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 9–8 | 14–8 |
| Seattle Storm $^x$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 11.0 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 11–11 |
| Tulsa Shock $^o$ | 9 | 25 | .265 | 18.0 | 6–11 | 3–14 | 5–17 |
| Phoenix Mercury $^o$ | 7 | 27 | .206 | 20.0 | 3–14 | 4–13 | 4–18 |

## Playoffs and finals

| Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Semi-Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | Conference Finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 |
| E1 | Connecticut | 2 | | | | | | |
| E4 | New York | 0 | | | | | | |
| E4 | New York | 0 | E1 | Connecticut | 1 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Connecticut | 1 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| E2 | Indiana | 2 | E2 | Indiana | 2 | | | |
| E3 | Atlanta | 1 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Atlanta | 1 | | | | E2 | Indiana | 3 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 1 |
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | | | | | | | W1 | Minnesota | 1 |
| W4 | Seattle | 1 | | | | | | |
| W4 | Seattle | 1 | W1 | Minnesota | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Minnesota | 2 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W2 | Los Angeles | 0 | | | |
| W2 | Los Angeles | 2 | W2 | Los Angeles | 0 | | | |
| W3 | San Antonio | 0 | | | | | | |

## Season award winners
### Player of the Week award

| For games played beginning | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| For games played beginning | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| May 18, 2012 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| May 28, 2012 | Epiphanny Prince | Chicago Sky | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| June 4, 2012 | Epiphanny Prince | Chicago Sky | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 11, 2012 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 18, 2012 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 25, 2012 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Sophia Young | San Antonio Silver Stars |
| July 2, 2012 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Becky Hammon | San Antonio Silver Stars |
| July 8, 2012 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August 16, 2012 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 20, 2012 | Sancho Lyttle | Atlanta Dream | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August 27, 2012 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| September 3, 2012 | Lindsey Harding | Atlanta Dream | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| September 10, 2012 | Cappie Pondexter | New York Liberty | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September 17, 2012 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |

### Player of the Month award

| For games played | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| For games played | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| May 2012 | Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 2012 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| July 2012 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August 2012 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September 2012 | Cappie Pondexter | New York Liberty | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |

### Rookie of the Month award

| For games played | Player | Team |
| May 2012 | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 2012 | Samantha Prahalis | Phoenix Mercury |
| July 2012 | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August 2012 | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September 2012 | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |

### Postseason awards

| Award | Award | Winner | Position | Team | Votes/Statistic |
| Most Valuable Player Award | Most Valuable Player Award | Tina Charles | Center | Connecticut Sun | 25 out of 41 |
| Finals MVP Award | Finals MVP Award | Tamika Catchings | Forward | Indiana Fever | |
| Rookie of the Year Award | Rookie of the Year Award | Nneka Ogwumike | Forward | Los Angeles Sparks | Unanimous |
| Most Improved Player Award | Most Improved Player Award | Kristi Toliver | Guard | Los Angeles Sparks | 24 out of 41 |
| Defensive Player of the Year Award | Defensive Player of the Year Award | Tamika Catchings | Forward | Indiana Fever | 19 out of 41 |
| Sixth Woman of the Year Award | Sixth Woman of the Year Award | Renee Montgomery | Guard | Connecticut Sun | 23 out of 41 |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | Kara Lawson | Guard | Connecticut Sun | 18 out of 41 |
| Peak Performer: Points | Peak Performer: Points | Angel McCoughtry | Guard/Forward | Atlanta Dream | 21.4 PPG |
| Peak Performer: Rebounds | Peak Performer: Rebounds | Tina Charles | Center | Connecticut Sun | 10.5 RPG |
| Peak Performer: Assists | Peak Performer: Assists | Lindsay Whalen | Guard | Minnesota Lynx | 5.4 APG |
| Coach of the Year Award | Coach of the Year Award | Carol Ross | Coach | Los Angeles Sparks | 15 out of 41 |
| Team | Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Center |
| All-WNBA First Team | Cappie Pondexter | Seimone Augustus | Candace Parker | Tamika Catchings | Tina Charles |
| All-WNBA Second Team | Kristi Toliver | Lindsay Whalen | Maya Moore | Sophia Young | Sylvia Fowles |
| All-Defensive First Team | Briann January | Alana Beard | Tamika Catchings | Sancho Lyttle | Sylvia Fowles |
| All-Defensive Second Team | Danielle Robinson | Armintie Price | Sophia Young | Candace Parker | Tina Charles |
| All-Rookie Team | Samantha Prahalis | Riquna Williams | Tiffany Hayes | Nneka Ogwumike | Glory Johnson |

## Coaches
### Eastern Conference

* Atlanta Dream: Marynell Meadors and Fred Williams
* Chicago Sky: Pokey Chatman
* Connecticut Sun: Mike Thibault
* Indiana Fever: Lin Dunn
* New York Liberty: John Whisenant
* Washington Mystics: Trudi Lacey

### Western Conference

* Los Angeles Sparks: Carol Ross
* Minnesota Lynx: Cheryl Reeve
* Phoenix Mercury: Corey Gaines
* San Antonio Silver Stars: Dan Hughes
* Seattle Storm: Brian Agler
* Tulsa Shock: Gary Kloppenburg