Indiana Fever win the 2012 WNBA Championship, beat the Lynx 87-78
The Indiana Fever won the 2012 WNBA Championship beating the Minnesota Lynx 87-78 in front of a sellout crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Sunday night. The Fever took four games (3-1) to earn the title in the best-of-five series even without star guard Katie Douglas and Jeanette Pohlen, who tore her ACL in game two of the series.
The league crowned Fever forward Tamika Catchings as the 2012 WNBA Finals MVP. She finished with 25 points, four rebounds, eight assists and three blocks. Other Fever players in double figures included Erin Phillips who finished with 18 points plus eight rebounds. Shavonte Zellous and Briann January scored 15 points each.
The Fever outrebounded the Lynx 39-35.
“Well, we won the boards,” said Indiana head coach Lin Dunn. “I’ve been telling y’all if we won the boards we’d win the game; if we win the game, we win the championship. So we won the boards.”
Even though Dunn had a few missing pieces in her squad, the Fever played at a high level, with consistent defensive pressure.
“We probably don’t have as much talent top to bottom as they do, so we had to win the old?fashioned way, with great defense, with rebounding, with toughness,” said Dunn. “And then of course we had to use the bench as best we could.”
Point guard Lindsay Whalen led the Lynx with 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Maya Moore had 16 points and four rebounds. Last year’s Finals MVP Seimone Augustus was held to eight points but she did pull down seven rebounds.
Whalen praised the overall play of the Fever.
“They played good defense,” she said. “They contested shots, and they made it tough for us to get in the lane a little bit. I think that was the theme of the whole series. They just were tough, and give them credit for the way they played.”
The Fever captured the title during its eighth consecutive trip to the WNBA Playoffs. It is the first professional basketball championship in Indianapolis since the 1973 Indiana Pacers won the ABA crown. The city will honor the team with a downtown celebration scheduled for Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
By the numbers
- Rebounds: Fever 39, Lynx 35
- Points in the Paint: Fever 20, Lynx 42
- Second Chance Points: Fever 1, Lynx 10
- Fastbreak Points: Fever 10, Lynx 10
- Biggest Lead: Fever 10, Lynx 2
- Lead Changes: 3
- Times Tied: 5
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