2016 Minnesota Lynx season

none August 2023 March 2026 Minnesota Lynx 2016 28 6 Western 1st Cheryl Reeve Target Center WNBA Finals(lost to Los Angeles 2–3) Fox Sports North, ESPN The 2016 Minnesota Lynx season was the 18th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the 7th season under head coach Cheryl Reeve. The Lynx were the defending WNBA champions.https://www.wnba.com/playoffs/2015 2015 WNBA Playoffs wnba.com WNBA June 25, 2024 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.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/sports/basketball/wnba-finals-los-angeles-sparks-minnesota-lynx.html With 3.1 Seconds Left, Los Angeles Sparks Seize W.N.B.A. Title The New York Times subscription October 21, 2016 June 24, 2024 Transactions WNBA draft 2016 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 Minnesota LynxThe Lynx received this pick and Renee Montgomery from Seattle in exchange for Monica Wright nb (then traded to San Antonio)http://lynx.wnba.com/news/lynx-acquire-wnba-star-jia-perkins-san-antonio/ Lynx Acquire WNBA All-Star Jia Perkins From San Antonio - Minnesota Lynx Minnesota Lynx en-US 2016-04-15 James Madison 2 22 Bashaara Graves Minnesota LynxThe Lynx received this pick from Chicago nb Tennessee 3 35 Temi Fagbenle Minnesota Lynx USC Trades and roster changes DateTrade February 2 Re-signed Sylvia Fowleshttps://www.wnba.com/news/minnesota-lynx-re-sign-center-sylvia-fowles/ Minnesota Lynx Re-Sign Center Sylvia Fowles WNBA.com WNBA February 2, 2016 June 25, 2024 The Lynx acquired Natasha Howard from the Indiana Fever in exchange for Devereaux Petershttp://www.wnba.com/news/fever-lynx-trade-natasha-howard-devereaux-peters/ Fever, Lynx Trade Natasha Howard, Devereaux Peters – WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA 2017-09-09 en-US Signed Renee Montgomeryhttps://www.wnba.com/news/minnesota-lynx-re-sign-guard-renee-montgomery Minnesota Lynx Re-Sign Guard Renee Montgomery WNBA.com WNBA February 2, 2016 June 25, 2024 April 14 The Lynx acquired the rights to Jazmon Gwathmey from the San Antonio Stars in exchange for Jia PerkinsStars Also Add Gwathmey and Martin on Draft Night http://stars.wnba.com/news/stars-also-add-gwathmey-martin-draft-night/ WNBA.com 5 August 2016 8 September 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170908201505/http://stars.wnba.com/news/stars-also-add-gwathmey-martin-draft-night/ dead Roster Minnesota Lynx 2016 WNBA 33 Seimone Augustus G/F 6 0 169 04-30-1984 11 LSU USA 32 Rebekkah Brunson F 6 2 185 12-11-1981 13 Georgetown USA 51 Anna Cruz G 5 9 136 10-27-1986 3 Spain ESP 34 Sylvia Fowles C 6 6 212 10-06-1985 9 Louisiana State USA 24 Keisha Hampton F 6 1 171 02-22-1990 R DePaul USA 3 Natasha Howard F 6 2 171 09-02-1991 2 Florida State USA 4 Janel McCarville F/C 6 2 218 11-03-1982 11 Minnesota USA 21 Renee Montgomery G 5 7 143 12-02-1986 8 Connecticut USA 23 Maya Moore F 6 0 178 06-11-1989 6 Connecticut USA 7 Jia Perkins G 5 8 168 02-23-1982 13 Texas Tech USA 13 Lindsay Whalen G 5 9 166 05-09-1982 13 Minnesota USA USA Cheryl Reeve La Salle USA Shelley Patterson Washington State USA Jim Petersen Minnesota USA Chuck Barta 1 University of Wisconsin–La Crosse USA Kate Taber 1 University of Iowa Game log Preseason Minnesota Lynx yes 2016 Total: 1–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–0) Minnesota Lynx Pre-season yes 0 1 1 0 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | May 5 | @ New York | W 77–74 | Renee Montgomery (17) | Courtney Clements (5) | 6 players (2) | Levien Gymnasium1,028 | 1–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 8 | Washington | L 68–85 | Keisha Hampton (15) | Natasha Howard (6) | Moore, Montgomery (4) | Mayo Civic Center4,524 | 1–1 MIN 2016 Regular season Minnesota Lynx 2016 Total: 28–6 (Home: 15–2; Road: 13–4) Minnesota Lynx May yes 2 0 4 0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 | May 14 | Phoenix | W 95–76 | Maya Moore (27) | Sylvia Fowles (14) | Maya Moore (10) | Target Center9,221 | 1–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 2 | May 18 | @ Chicago | W 97–80 | Sylvia Fowles (24) | Sylvia Fowles (13) | Augustus, Moore (6) | Allstate Arena5,034 | 2–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 3 | May 22 | Seattle | W 78–71 | Maya Moore (17) | Maya Moore (9) | Maya Moore (4) | KeyArena9,686 | 3–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 4 | May 25 | @ Phoenix | W 85–78 | Maya Moore (34) | Rebekkah Brunson (10) | Lindsay Whalen (7) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,368 | 4–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 5 | May 27 | Indiana | W 74–71 | Augustus, Whalen (12) | Janel McCarville (9) | Maya Moore (8) | Target Center7,503 | 5–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 6 | May 31 | @ New York | W 79–69 | Maya Moore (25) | Rebekkah Brunson (7) | Renee Montgomery (4) | Madison Square Garden7,356 | 6–0 Minnesota Lynx June 3 2 4 1 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 7 || June 4 || Dallas || W 80–63 || Sylvia Fowles (16) || Rebekkah Brunson (8) || Lindsay Whalen (8) || Target Center7,634 || 7–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 8 || June 7 || Phoenix || W 89–81 || Fowles, Moore (21) || Rebekkah Brunson (9) || Brunson, Montgomery, Moore (4) || Target Center7,207 || 8–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 9 || June 10 || @ Atlanta || W 110–78 || Maya Moore (19) || Sylvia Fowles (11) || Montgomery, Perkins (5) || Philips Arena5,368 || 9–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 10 || June 11 || @ Washington || W 83–76 || Seimone Augustus (21) || Rebekkah Brunson (12) || Maya Moore (5) || Capital One Arena7,751 || 10–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 11 || June 14 || Indiana || W 87–63 || Maya Moore (16) || Fowles, Moore (8) || Lindsay Whalen (6) || Target Center7,623 || 11–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 12 || June 19 || @ Seattle || W 96–84 || Maya Moore (18) || Maya Moore (7) || Renee Montgomery (10) || KeyArena5,749 || 12–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 13 || June 21 || @ Los Angeles || W 72–69 || Seimone Augustus (13) || Sylvia Fowles (11) || McCarville, Montgomery (4) || Staples Center9,112 || 13–0 |- style="background:#fcc" | 14 || June 24 || Los Angeles || L 76–94 || Maya Moore (28) || Sylvia Fowles (11) || Maya Moore (4) || Target Center13,003 || 13–1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 15 || June 26 || @ Washington || L 63–87 || Sylvia Fowles (13) || Jia Perkins (6) || Seimone Augustus (5) || Capital One Arena6,322 || 13–2 |- style="background:#fcc" | 16 || June 29 || New York || L 92–95 (OT) || Maya Moore (24) || Rebekkah Brunson (10) || Rebekkah Brunson (5) || Target Center7,721 || 13–3 Minnesota Lynx July 6 0 2 1 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 17 || July 2 || San Antonio || W 91–68 || Natasha Howard (21) || Rebekkah Brunson (12) || Maya Moore (5) || Target Center7,534 || 14–3 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 18 || July 5 || Chicago || W 87–82 || Maya Moore (33) || Rebekkah Brunson (8) || Lindsay Whalen (4) || Target Center7,433 || 15–3 |- style="background:#fcc" | 19 || July 7 || @ Connecticut || L 89–93 || Maya Moore (40) || Maya Moore (8) || Jia Perkins (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena6,739 || 15–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 20 || July 9 || Dallas || W 93–56 || Lindsay Wahlen (22) || Sylvia Fowles (10) || Maya Moore (7) || Target Center7,613 || 16–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 21 || July 12 || @ San Antonio || W 81–57 || Maya Moore (22) || Sylvia Fowles (8) || Maya Moore (7) || AT&T Center11,171 || 17–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 22 || July 15 || New York || W 88–70 || Seimone Augustus (20) || Seimone Augustus (7) || Lindsay Whalen (8) || Target Center8,123 || 18–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 23 || July 17 || @ Dallas || W 98–97 (OT) || Maya Moore (20) || Sylvia Fowles (19) || Maya Moore (6) || College Park Center5,752 || 19–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 24 || July 20 || Atlanta || W 83–65 || Seimone Augustus (19) || Rebekkah Brunson (12) || Seimone Augustus (5) || Target Center16,132 || 20–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 25 || July 22 || Seattle || W 79–72 || Maya Moore (21) || Sylvia Fowles (12) || Renee Montgomery (6) || Target Center12,124 || 21–4 Minnesota Lynx August 1 0 0 1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 26 || August 26 || @ Connecticut || L 80–84 || Fowles, Whalen (16) || Rebekkah Brunson (11) || Moore, Whalen (3) || Mohegan Sun Arena7,381 || 21–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 27 || August 28 || Seattle || W 92–80 || Lindsay Whalen (24) || Sylvia Fowles (11) || Natasha Howard (4) || Target Center11,834 || 22–5 Minnesota Lynx September 3 0 3 1 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 28 || September 2 || Washington || W 75–69 || Maya Moore (27) || Sylvia Fowles (17) || McCarville, Whalen (4) || Target Center7,523 || 23–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 29 || September 4 || Connecticut || W 93–79 || Maya Moore (24) || Sylvia Fowles (8) || Lindsay Whalen (6) || Target Center7,632 || 24–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 30 || September 6 || @ Los Angeles || W 77–74 || Sylvia Fowles (21) || Rebekkah Brunson (11) || Fowles, Moore, Whalen (3) || Staples Center7,224 || 25–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 31 || September 11 || @ San Antonio || W 81–76 || Seimone Augustus (20) || Rebekkah Brunson (11) || Maya Moore (6) || AT&T Center5,705 || 26–5 |- style="background:#fcc" | 32 || September 13 || @ Chicago || L 97–98 (OT) || Maya Moore (27) || Fowles, Howard (7) || Maya Moore (5) || Allstate Arena6,050 || 27–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 33 || September 16 || @ Indiana || W 82–75 || Maya Moore (15) || Rebekkah Brunson (9) || Cruz, Montgomery (4) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse8,663 || 27–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 34 || September 17 || Atlanta || W 95–87 || Sylvia Fowles (30) || Natasha Howard (9) || Maya Moore (8) || Target Center11,663 || 28–6 MIN 2016 Playoffs Minnesota Lynx yes 2016 Total: 5–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 2–1) Minnesota Lynx Semifinals vs. PhoenixWon Series: 3–0 yes yes |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 | September 28 | Phoenix | W 113–95 | Maya Moore (31) | Sylvia Fowles (10) | Augustus, Whalen (7) | Xcel Energy Center9,013 | 1–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 2 | September 30 | Phoenix | W 96–86 | Maya Moore (26) | Rebekkah Brunson (11) | Maya Moore (5) | Xcel Energy Center11,923 | 2–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 3 | October 2 | Phoenix | W 82–67 | Maya Moore (20) | Rebekkah Brunson (9) | Lindsay Whalen (5) | US Airways Center9,631 | 3–0 Minnesota Lynx Finals vs. Los AngelesLost Series: 2–3 yes |- style="background:#fcc" | 1 || October 9 || Los Angeles || L 76–78 || Fowles, Moore, Whalen (18) || Sylvia Fowles (13) || Lindsay Whalen (6) || Target Center12,113 || 0–1 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 2 || October 11 || Los Angeles || W 79–60 || Maya Moore (21) || Sylvia Fowles (15) || Sylvia Fowles (4) || Target Center12,832 || 1–1 |- style="background:#fcc" | 3 || October 14 || @ Los Angeles || L 75–92 || Brunson, Fowles (14) || Maya Moore (7) || Maya Moore (5) || Galen Center8,093 || 1–2 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 4 || October 16 || @ Los Angeles || W 85–79 || Maya Moore (31) || Sylvia Fowles (13) || Augustus, Moore (5) || Staples Center12,885 || 2–2 |- style="background:#fcc" | 5 || October 20 || Los Angeles || L 76–77 || Maya Moore (23) || Brunson, Fowles (9) || Maya Moore (11) || Target Center19,423 || 2–3 MIN yes 2016 Standings MIN Playoffs 2016 WNBA 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. Bracket 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 Ref. Maya Moore All-WNBA First Team October 14, 2016 2016 All-WNBA First and Second Teams Announced https://www.wnba.com/news/2016-all-wnba-teams-official-release/ wnba.com WNBA July 5, 2022 Western Conference Player of the Month - August September 1, 2016 https://acrossthetimeline.com/wnba/awards.html#season=2016&team=Minnesota%20Lynx WNBA Awards - Across the Timeline acrossthetimeline.com June 27, 2024 Western Conference Player of the Month - May June 1, 2016 Western Conference Player of the Week July 11, 2016 June 6, 2016 May 23, 2016 Sylvia Fowles Defensive Player of the Year Award September 30, 2016 Sylvia Fowles, Nneka Ogwumike Headline 2016 WNBA All-Defensive Team https://www.wnba.com/news/2016-wnba-all-defensive-team-official-release/ wnba.com WNBA July 5, 2022 All-Defensive First Team All-WNBA Second Team October 14, 2016 Cheryl Reeve Coach of the Year Award September 30, 2016 http://www.excellesports.com/news/cheryl-reeve-wins-wnba-coach-of-the-year/ Cheryl Reeve wins WNBA Coach of the Year September 30, 2016 en-US September 30, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161003065458/http://www.excellesports.com/news/cheryl-reeve-wins-wnba-coach-of-the-year/ October 3, 2016 dead References Notes nb External links The Official Site of the Minnesota Lynx Category:Minnesota Lynx seasons Minnesota Category:2016 in sports in Minnesota