# 2004 Minnesota Lynx season

The 2004 WNBA season was the sixth for the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx qualified for their second consecutive playoff berth, but lost in the opening round to eventual champion Seattle Storm.

## Offseason
### Dispersal Draft

Based on the Lynx's 2003 record, they would pick 7th in the Cleveland Rockers dispersal draft. The Lynx picked Helen Darling.

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 6 | Nicole Ohlde (C) | United States | Kansas State |
| 1 | 7 | Vanessa Hayden (C) | United States | Florida |
| 2 | 20 | Tasha Butts (F) | United States | Tennessee |
| 3 | 33 | Amber Jacobs (G) | United States | Boston College |
| 3 | 38 | Kate Bulger (G) | United States | West Virginia |

## Regular season
### Season standings

| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^x$ | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 15–2 | 10–7 | 16–6 |
| Seattle Storm $^x$ | 20 | 14 | .588 | 5.0 | 13–4 | 7–10 | 13–9 |
| Minnesota Lynx $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 12–10 |
| Sacramento Monarchs $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 10–7 | 8–9 | 12–10 |
| Phoenix Mercury $^o$ | 17 | 17 | .500 | 8.0 | 10–7 | 7–10 | 11–11 |
| Houston Comets $^o$ | 13 | 21 | .382 | 12.0 | 9–8 | 4–13 | 7–15 |
| San Antonio Silver Stars $^o$ | 9 | 25 | .265 | 16.0 | 6–11 | 3–14 | 6–16 |

### Season schedule

| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| May 20 | @ Seattle | 85-88 | Loss | 0-1 |
| May 22 | @ Sacramento | 69-61 | Win | 1-1 |
| May 26 | @ San Antonio | 44-56 | Loss | 1-2 |
| May 28 | Washington | 73-62 | Win | 2-2 |
| May 30 | New York | 64-68 | Loss | 2-3 |
| June 3 | San Antonio | 55-47 | Win | 3-3 |
| June 5 | Phoenix | 76-68 | Win | 4-3 |
| June 11 | @ Los Angeles | 55-69 | Loss | 4-4 |
| June 17 | Sacramento | 50-60 | Loss | 4-5 |
| June 19 | Houston | 66-58 | Win | 5-5 |
| June 22 | @ Phoenix | 46-69 | Loss | 5-6 |
| June 24 | @ San Antonio | 57-70 | Loss | 5-7 |
| June 27 | Los Angeles | 67-83 | Loss | 5-8 |
| June 30 | Houston | 58-50 (OT) | Win | 6-8 |
| July 3 | Detroit | 78-70 | Win | 7-8 |
| July 8 | @ Indiana | 56-58 | Loss | 7-9 |
| July 9 | Phoenix | 61-59 | Win | 8-9 |
| July 11 | Sacramento | 83-73 (OT) | Win | 9-9 |
| July 14 | Connecticut | 66-63 | Win | 10-9 |
| July 15 | @ New York | 69-66 | Win | 11-9 |
| July 18 | @ Phoenix | 63-60 | Win | 12-9 |
| July 22 | @ Connecticut | 68-52 | Win | 13-9 |
| July 23 | @ Washington | 61-65 | Loss | 13-10 |
| July 28 | San Antonio | 66-53 | Win | 14-10 |
| July 30 | Seattle | 55-70 | Loss | 14-11 |
| August 1 | @ Detroit | 59-58 | Win | 15-11 |
| September 1 | @ Houston | 72-64 | Win | 16-11 |
| September 3 | Indiana | 61-69 | Loss | 16-12 |
| September 8 | Charlotte | 68-72 | Loss | 16-13 |
| September 10 | Seattle | 64-61 | Win | 17-13 |
| September 11 | @ Charlotte | 50-60 | Loss | 17-14 |
| September 14 | @ Houston | 59-70 | Loss | 17-15 |
| September 17 | @ Los Angeles | 78-66 | Win | 18-15 |
| September 19 | @ Sacramento | 63-72 | Loss | 18-16 |

## Playoffs

| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| Western Conference Semifinals ||||||
| 1 | September 25 | Seattle | 58-70 | Loss | 0-1 |
| 2 | September 27 | @ Seattle | 54-64 | Loss | 0-2 |

## Player stats

| Player | GP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
| Katie Smith | 23 | 84 | 52 | 23 | 6 | 432 |
| Nicole Ohlde | 34 | 194 | 60 | 16 | 45 | 397 |
| Tamika Raymond | 34 | 205 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 254 |
| Teresa Edwards | 34 | 90 | 79 | 47 | 8 | 194 |
| Vanessa Hayden | 29 | 84 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 153 |
| Svetlana Abrosimova | 22 | 74 | 45 | 30 | 2 | 146 |
| Helen Darling | 33 | 67 | 115 | 30 | 4 | 140 |
| Amanda Lassiter | 33 | 80 | 37 | 21 | 22 | 127 |
| Stacey Lovelace | 34 | 66 | 20 | 18 | 9 | 121 |
| Amber Jacobs | 32 | 36 | 47 | 13 | 0 | 101 |
| Tasha Butts | 30 | 62 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 76 |
| Michele Van Gorp | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| Gwen Slaughter | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Teresa Edwards, Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
* Suzie McConnell Serio, WNBA Coach of the Year Award