Indiana Fever Win First WNBA Title
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Michael Hickey/Getty Images(INDIANAPOLIS) — The Fever wanted their first WNBA title. The Lynx were trying to repeat. In the end, the Fever won out on the WNBA’s biggest stage.
Tamika Catchings scored 25 points, Erin Phillips added 18 and the Indiana Fever captured the first championship in franchise history with an 87-78 win over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.
“When you come into this league, your goal and dream is to win a WNBA championship,” Catchings said. “Twelve years later … it’s so sweet right now.”
Four players scored in double figures for the Fever despite the team shooting less than 40 percent from the floor. Indiana did have 29 made free throws compared to 10 for the Lynx.
Lindsay Whalen had 18 points and six rebounds for Minnesota, while Maya Moore added 16 in a losing effort. The Lynx were trying for the first back-to-back WNBA Championship since Los Angeles accomplished it in 2001-02.
“It was hard being the hunted, as we all know,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “There’s a reason this hasn’t been done in over 10 years. I really felt like if there was a team that could do it, it was our team.”
The Fever’s defense held Minnesota under 40 percent shooting in their three wins, and limited leading playoff scorer Seimone Augustus to eight points on 3 of 21 shooting in Game 4.
“They played good defense,” Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen 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 were just tough, and give them credit for the way they played.”
Catchings was named MVP of the Finals after averaging 24.8 points per game in the series.
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