2006 WNBA Finals

Sports championship August 2023 2006 WNBA Finals logo.png WNBA 2006 Sacramento Monarchs John Whisenant 2 Detroit Shock Bill Laimbeer 3 August 30 – September 9 Deanna Nolan (Detroit Shock) Shock:Swin Cash (2022)Katie Smith (2018)Monarchs:Yolanda Griffith (2021) Detroit defeated Connecticut, 2–1 Sacramento defeated Los Angeles, 2–0 The 2006 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2006 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Detroit Shock, second-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Sacramento Monarchs, second-seeded champions of the Western Conference, three games to two in a best-of-five series. This was Detroit's second title. The Shock made their second appearance in the Finals in four years. The Monarchs appeared in the Finals for the second straight time after having won the title in 2005. Going into the series, the Shock had won one championship, as had the Monarchs. The Shock's 23–11 record gave them home court advantage over Sacramento (21–13), but a Mariah Carey concert meant that the fifth and deciding game had to be moved to Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit. Road to the finals Sacramento MonarchsDetroit Shock21–13 (.618)2nd West, 4th overall Regular season23–11 (.676)2nd East, 3rd overallDefeated the (3) Houston Comets, 2–0 Conference SemifinalsDefeated the (3) Indiana Fever, 2–0Defeated the (1) Los Angeles Sparks, 2–0 Conference FinalsDefeated the (1) Connecticut Sun, 2–1 Regular season series The Shock and the Monarchs split the regular season series: #eee July 26 Recap Sacramento Monarchs 71 Detroit Shock 91 Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills #eee July 30 Recap Detroit Shock 61 Sacramento Monarchs 94 ARCO Arena, Sacramento Game summaries All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time. Game 1 #eee August 30 7:30pm Recap Sacramento Monarchs 95 71 Detroit Shock 26–20 27–18 17–14 25–19 Lawson 22 Ford 25 Brunson 7 Ford 8 Penicheiro 6 Nolan 5 Stls: Haynie 5 3P FG: Smith 4-6 Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills 9,581 #22 Corteau #38 Simpson #39 Price ESPN2 Sacramento leads series, 1–0 Kara Lawson led a balanced attack with 22 points as the Monarchs posted an impressive 95-71 victory over the Detroit Shock in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Sacramento, which set a WNBA Finals record for points, field goals (35) and 3-pointers (ten), took the early edge in the best-of-five series. Cheryl Ford scored 25 points and Katie Smith added 21 for Detroit, which is seeking its second title in four years. The Shock certainly will not get there committing a Finals-record 24 turnovers as they did in Game 1. Sacramento officially took charge of the contest with an 8–0 run during the third quarter that turned a 13-point lead into a 61-40 bulge with 6:09 to play. Nicole Powell ignited the surge with a 3-pointer and Griffith made a pair of baskets before Ticha Penicheiro capped the run with a free throw. The Shock got within 76–62 midway through the fourth quarter, but Lawson came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers as the Monarchs extended their cushion to 91–71 with 2:57 remaining. Lawson finished 6-of-8 from the arc, setting a Finals record for made 3-pointers. Powell connected on 4-of-7 attempts as Sacramento finished 10-of-19 from long range. Game 2 #eee September 1 7:30 pm Recap Sacramento Monarchs 63 73 Detroit Shock 26–19 16–14 12–15 9–25 Griffith 14 Nolan 21 Griffith 8 Cash, Ford 8 Haynie 3 Cash 5 FG: Lawson 3-11 FG: Smith 6-13 Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills 15,218 #4 Blauch #18 Walker #30 Mattingly ESPN2 Series tied, 1–1 Deanna Nolan scored 21 points and Smith added 16 – all in the second half – as the Shock rebounded from a slow start to even the best-of-three series with a 73–63 victory in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. Swin Cash collected 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Detroit, which gave Sacramento (5–1) its first loss of the postseason and avoided falling into an 0–2 hole. Trailing by nine at the half and 54–48 entering the final period, the Shock were on the verge of being one game away from a Finals' loss. However, after scoring the last three points of the third quarter, Detroit ran off the first eight points of the frame. A jumper by Nolan capped the spurt and gave the Shock the lead for good, 56–54, with 7:43 left. After Detroit maintained the edge over the next five minutes, Katie Smith made it 67–58 on a 3-pointer with 2:57 to go. Game 3 #eee September 3 4:30 pm https://web.archive.org/web/20070212164310/http://www.wnba.com/games/20060903/DETSAC/boxscore.html February 12, 2007 Recap Detroit Shock 69 89 Sacramento Monarchs 18–20 15–24 17–28 19–17 Nolan 22 Griffith 15 Ford 8 Powell 6 Cash, Ford, Holland-Corn, Smith 3 Walker 5 FG: Nolan 9–17 Stls: Lawson 3 ARCO Arena, Sacramento 14,253 #8 Humphrey #10 Trammell #11 Napier ESPN2 Sacramento leads series, 2-1 Yolanda Griffith scored 15 points, and Nicole Powell added 14, as the Monarchs took control of the WNBA Finals with an 89–69 rout of the Detroit Shock in Game 3. Capturing its 11th consecutive home playoff victory, Sacramento improved its home record in the postseason to 12–2 (.857), the best mark in league history. On the way to claiming their first title last season, the Monarchs stole home-court advantage from the Connecticut Sun and then captured both home games to complete the series in four games. So far,February 2012 Sacramento employed a similar approach throughout the series. Following a 95–71 victory in Game 1 in Detroit, which set a Finals record for points, the Monarchs defeated the Shock again to move within one win of a second consecutive championship. Despite failing to capitalize on a six-point lead entering the fourth quarter of Game 2 in a 73–63 loss, Sacramento came out fired up, using a 9–0 run at the start of the second quarter to pull ahead, 29–18, with 7:46 to play. Rookie Scholanda Dorrell sank a pair of three-pointers during the burst. Griffith, the MVP of last season's Finals, scored her team's final eight points before the half to maintain an 11-point edge at the break, 44–33. Game 4 #eee September 6 9:00 pm https://web.archive.org/web/20070218025954/http://www.wnba.com/games/20060906/DETSAC/boxscore.html February 18, 2007 Recap Detroit Shock 72 52 Sacramento Monarchs 22–26 21–11 13–13 16–2 Smith 22 Powell 13 Ford 10 Griffith 11 Cash 5 Griffith, Penicheiro 2 O REB: Cash 5 (6 tot REB) Blocks: Walker 3 ARCO Arena, Sacramento 14,213 #18 Walker #22 Corteau #39 Price ESPN2 Series tied, 2-2 Katie Smith and Cheryl Ford carried the load to help the Detroit Shock extend the WNBA Finals to a decisive fifth game. Smith scored 22 points and Ford added 13 with 10 rebounds as the Shock avoided elimination by posting a 72–52 triumph over the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs. Rebounding from Sunday's 89–69 loss in Game 3, Detroit ended Sacramento's 11-game home playoff winning streak and will host the final game of the series on Saturday. Each of the previous league champions clinched the title on its home floor. Game 5 #eee September 9 3:30 pm https://web.archive.org/web/20070220130606/http://www.wnba.com/games/20060909/SACDET/boxscore.html February 20, 2007 Recap Sacramento Monarchs 75 80 Detroit Shock 18–17 26–19 9–22 22–22 Lawson 17 Nolan 24 Griffith 9 Ford 10 Haynie 5 Smith 6 FG: Lawson 7-10 Blks: Riley 4 Joe Louis Arena, Detroit 19,671 #10 Bob Trammell #11 Tina Napier #30 Lisa Mattingly ESPN2 Detroit wins WNBA Finals, 3-2 Katie Smith scored 17 points, including two clutch jumpers in the final two minutes, as the Detroit Shock claimed their second title with a stirring 80–75 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs. The Shock, who also won the title in 2003, won the last two games of the best-of-five series and dethroned the Monarchs, who were trying to become the league's third repeat champion. Instead, Detroit joined Houston (1997–2000) and Los Angeles (2001–02) as multiple championship winners. Deanna Nolan scored 24 points and was named Finals MVP. Nolan scored 10 points in the pivotal third quarter, when the Shock held the Monarchs to nine points and took the lead for good. A 3-pointer by Nolan gave Detroit a 68–55 lead before Sacramento made a final charge, closing to 75–69 on a 3-pointer by Kristin Haynie with 2:05 remaining. Smith answered with a 3-pointer 19 seconds later. A three-point play by Haynie and 3-pointer by foul-plagued Nicole Powell pulled the Monarchs within 78–75 with 33 seconds to play. Sacramento elected not to foul but Smith foiled the strategy by draining a 15-footer with 14 seconds remaining. Smith grabbed a last-gasp shot and hurled the ball skyward in celebration. She is the all-time leading scorer in women's professional basketball history and a former WNBA scoring champion, but she never had been on a championship team – until now. Awards 2006 WNBA champion: Detroit Shock Finals MVP: Deanna Nolan Rosters #00008B #D3D3D3 #DC143C #FFFFFF 2006 Detroit Shock Finals WNBA 21 Jacqueline Batteast F 6 2 175 Notre Dame USA 45 Kara Braxton C 6 6 210 Georgia USA 32 Swin Cash F 6 1 162 Connecticut USA 35 Cheryl Ford PF 6 3 198 Louisiana Tech USA 11 Kedra Holland-Corn G 5 7 136 Georgia USA 14 Deanna Nolan SG 5 11 144 Georgia USA 23 Plenette Pierson SF 6 2 181 Texas Tech USA 5 Elaine Powell PG 5 8 150 Louisiana State USA 00 Ruth Riley C 6 5 195 Notre Dame USA 30 Katie Smith G/F 5 11 174 Ohio State USA 33 Angelina Williams F 6 0 150 Illinois USA USA Bill Laimbeer Notre Dame USA Rick Mahorn Hampton USA Cheryl Reeve 1 La Salle USA Mike Perkins 1 #483B8D #FFFFFF #483B8D #FFFFFF 2006 Sacramento Monarchs Finals WNBA 7 Erin Buescher F 6 3 181 The Master's College USA 32 Rebekkah Brunson F 6 3 175 Georgetown USA 33 Yolanda Griffith C 6 4 175 Florida Atlantic USA 4 Kristin Haynie G 5 9 147 Michigan State USA 20 Kara Lawson G 5 9 165 Tennessee USA 9 Hamchetou Maiga-Ba F 6 1 160 Old Dominion Mali 21 Ticha Penicheiro G 5 11 149 Old Dominion POR 14 Nicole Powell F 6 3 170 Stanford USA 5 Scholanda Robinson G 5 11 155 Louisiana State USA 8 Kim Smith basketball F 6 0 155 Utah USA 22 DeMya Walker F 6 3 168 Virginia USA USA John Whisenant New Mexico State USA Tom Abatemarco Dowling College USA Steve Shuman 1 Sacramento State USA Monique Ambers Arizona State USA Jill Jackson 1 Sacramento State Finals Category:Detroit Shock Category:Sacramento Monarchs WNBA Finals WNBA Finals Category:WNBA Finals Category:Basketball competitions in Detroit Category:2000s in Sacramento, California Category:Basketball competitions in California WNBA Finals Category:Women's sports in California Category:Sports competitions in Sacramento, California