2012 Minnesota Lynx season

The 2012 WNBA season is the 14th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Lynx were the defending WNBA Champions, having won the 2011 WNBA Finals over the Atlanta Dream. The Lynx qualified for the playoffs, and finished with the best record in the WNBA. On October 7, 2012, the Lynx won their second straight WNBA Western Conference championship, earning a spot in the 2012 WNBA finals.

2012 Minnesota Lynx season
CoachCheryl Reeve
ArenaTarget Center
Attendance9,683 per game
Results
Record27–7 (.794)
Place1st (Western)
Playoff finishLost WNBA Finals
Team Leaders
PointsAugustus (16.8)
ReboundsBrunson (8.90)
AssistsWhalen (5.4)
Media
RadioKLCI
TelevisionFS-N
ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, NBATV

Transactions

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WNBA draft

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The following are the Lynx' selections in the 2012 WNBA draft.

Round Pick Player Nationality School/team/country
1 3 (from Was.) Devereaux Peters   United States Notre Dame
1 12 Damiris Dantas do Amaral   Brazil Brazil
2 18 (from Pho.) Julie Wojta   United States Wisconsin-Green Bay
2 19 (from N.Y.) Kayla Standish   United States Gonzaga
2 20 (from Atl.) Nika Barič   Slovenia Merkur Celjie (Slovenia)
3 31 (from N.Y.) Jacki Gemelos   United States USC

Transaction log

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  • April 11, 2011: The Lynx acquired a second-round pick in the 2012 Draft from the Atlanta Dream as part of the Felicia Chester/Rachel Jarry transaction.
  • April 11, 2011: The Lynx acquired a second-round pick in the 2012 Draft from the New York Liberty as part of the Jessica Breland trade.
  • April 11, 2011: The Lynx acquired a first-round pick in the 2012 Draft from the Washington Mystics in exchange for Nicky Anosike.
  • May 27, 2011: The Lynx swapped third-round picks in the 2012 Draft with the New York Liberty as part of the Quanitra Hollingsworth transaction.
  • January 23: The Lynx re-signed Jessica Adair.
  • January 26: The Lynx re-signed Taj McWilliams-Franklin.
  • February 2: The Lynx traded Alexis Hornbuckle to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2013 Draft.
  • February 10: The Lynx re-signed Candice Wiggins.
  • February 13: The Lynx signed Erin Thorn.
  • February 28: The Lynx traded Charde Houston and the 24th pick in the 2012 Draft to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for the 18th pick in the 2012 Draft.
  • April 25: The Lynx signed Queralt Casas, Jasmine Lee, and Porsche Poole.
  • April 26: The Lynx signed Tavelyn James and draft pick Julie Wojta.
  • April 29: The Lynx signed Brittany Rayburn.
  • May 2: The Lynx signed draft picks Devereaux Peters and Kayla Standish.
  • May 6: The Lynx waived Jasmine Lee, Tavelyn James, and Kayla Standish.
  • May 11: The Lynx waived Brittany Rayburn.
  • May 16: The Lynx waived Queralt Casas and Julie Wojta.
  • July 10: The Lynx signed Julie Wojta to a 7-day contract as an injury replacement.

Trades

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Date Trade
February 2, 2012 To Minnesota Lynx To Phoenix Mercury
Second-round pick in 2013 Draft Alexis Hornbuckle
February 28, 2012 To Minnesota Lynx To Phoenix Mercury
18th pick in 2012 Draft Charde Houston and 24th pick in 2012 Draft

Personnel changes

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Roster

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2012 Minnesota Lynx roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
C 1   Adair, Jessica 6' 4" (1.93m) 197 lb (89kg) 12-19-1986 George Washington 2
G/F 33   Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 04-30-1984 LSU 6
F 32   Brunson, Rebekkah 6' 2" (1.88m) 184 lb (83kg) 12-11-1981 Georgetown 8
F 6   Harris, Amber 6' 5" (1.96m) 202 lb (92kg) 01-16-1988 Xavier 1
F/C 8   McWilliams-Franklin, Taj 6' 2" (1.88m) 195 lb (88kg) 08-20-1970 St. Edward's 13
F 23   Moore, Maya 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) 06-11-1989 Connecticut 1
F 14   Peters, Devereaux 6' 2" (1.88m) 170 lb (77kg) 10-08-1989 Notre Dame R
G 5   Thorn, Erin 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 05-19-1981 BYU 9
G 13   Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m) 160 lb (73kg) 05-09-1982 Minnesota 8
G 11   Wiggins, Candice 5' 11" (1.8m) 147 lb (67kg) 02-14-1987 Stanford 4
G/F 22   Wright, Monica 5' 10" (1.78m) 171 lb (78kg) 07-15-1988 Virginia 2
Head coach
  Cheryl Reeve (La Salle)
Assistant coaches
  Shelley Patterson (Washington State)
  Jim Petersen (Minnesota)
Athletic trainer
  Chuck Barta (Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Assistant trainer
  Keith Uzpen (Minnesota State-Mankato)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  •   Injured

Depth

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Pos. Starter Bench
C Taj McWilliams-Franklin Jessica Adair
Amber Harris
PF Rebekkah Brunson Devereaux Peters
SF Maya Moore Monica Wright
SG Seimone Augustus Candice Wiggins
PG Lindsay Whalen Erin Thorn

Season summary

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First Half of Season

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Expectations were high for the Lynx as they opened the 2012 season. The team returned all five starters from their 2011 championship season, including four all-stars. Those expectations were matched through the early part of the season, as the team set the WNBA record with 10 consecutive wins to start the season, before losing to Seattle on June 17.[1] The team then won two consecutive games to run their record to 12-1.

July proved to be a difficult month. The team lost three straight to start the month, and lost forwards Devereaux Peters and Rebekkah Brunson to injuries. The team signed guard Julie Wojta, who had been drafted by the team but cut after training camp, to a 7-day contract to provide depth. The Lynx rebounded by winning back-to-back games over the Tulsa Shock, and went into the Summer Olympic Break with a 15-4 record.

Olympics

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Three members of the Lynx—Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, and Lindsay Whalen—were members of the United States women's national basketball team for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The three players were the most contributed by any WNBA squad. The team won gold during the games, the second medal for Augustus, and the first each for Moore and Whalen.

Injuries

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Seimone Augustus missed two games in June with a strained quadriceps muscle. Jessica Adair underwent arthroscopic surgery on her knee on June 21. Devereaux Peters and Rebekkah Brunson both went out with injuries in July.

Second half of season

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The Lynx returned to action on August 17, 2012, beating the Washington Mystics 98-69. They won their second game back, beating Tulsa 83–59 to clinch a berth in the playoffs.[2] It was the earliest in a season the Lynx had ever clinched a playoff spot.

The Lynx tied a WNBA record on September 7, when they came back from a 25-point deficit to defeat the Atlanta Dream in double overtime.[3]

The Lynx did not lose until September 11, when they fell to the Chicago Sky. By that point, the Lynx were comfortably ahead in the Western Conference standings; the team ultimately won the top overall seed in the playoffs, and matched a franchise record with 27 wins.

Season standings

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Western Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
Minnesota Lynx z 27 7 .794 16–1 11–6 17–5
Los Angeles Sparks x 24 10 .706 3.0 16–1 8–9 15–7
San Antonio Silver Stars x 21 13 .618 6.0 12–5 9–8 14–8
Seattle Storm x 16 18 .471 11.0 10–7 6–11 11–11
Tulsa Shock o 9 25 .265 18.0 6–11 3–14 5–17
Phoenix Mercury o 7 27 .206 20.0 3–14 4–13 4–18

Schedule

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Preseason

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2012 Game Log: Preseason (May)
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
1 Thu 10 7:00 @ Connecticut CPTV-S 87-85 Augustus (12) Peters
Wojta (7)
Whalen (5) Mohegan Sun Arena
4,835
1-0
2 Tue 15 1:00 Chicago 82-61 Wright (14) Brunson (7) Whalen (8) University of Minnesota
4,102
2-0

Regular season

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2012 Game Log: Regular Season
May (5–0)
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
1 Sun 20 12:30 Phoenix ABC 105-83 Augustus (19) Brunson (9) McWilliams-Franklin
Whalen
Wright (5)
Target Center
12,611
1-0
2 Tue 22 7:00 @ New York 80-62 Augustus (22) McWilliams-Franklin (11) Moore (7) Prudential Center
5,411
2-0
3 Thu 24 8:00 Los Angeles 92-84 Augustus (25) McWilliams-Franklin (8) McWilliams-Franklin (4) Target Center
7,923
3-0
4 Sun 27 7:00 Seattle FS-N 84-71 Moore (19) Brunson (7) Whalen (8) Target Center
7,832
4-0
5 Wed 30 7:00 @ Washington CSN-MA 79-77 Brunson
Moore (16)
Brunson (9) Whalen (7) Verizon Center
8,131
5-0
June (8–1)
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
6 Fri 1 7:00 @ Connecticut CPTV-S 85-72 Augustus (23) Brunson (13) Whalen (8) Mohegan Sun Arena
7,249
6-0
7 Sun 3 7:00 San Antonio FS-N
FS-SW
83-79 Brunson
Moore (17)
Brunson
Whalen (8)
Whalen (7) Target Center
7,942
7-0
8 Wed 6 8:00 Seattle 79-55 McWilliams-Franklin (17) Wiggins (6) Whalen (5) Target Center
8,263
8-0
9 Sat 9 8:00 @ Tulsa 93-73 Moore (26) Brunson
McWilliams-Franklin (6)
Whalen (10) BOK Center
5,113
9-0
10 Fri 15 10:00 @ Phoenix 78-60 Whalen (29) Harris
Moore (7)
Augustus
Wright (3)
US Airways Center
7,394
10-0
11 Sun 17 9:00 @ Seattle 62-65 Moore (14) Brunson (11) Brunson
McWilliams-Franklin
Whalen (4)
KeyArena
8,349
10-1
12 Thu 21 8:00 New York 102-70 Augustus (26) Brunson
Moore (10)
Augustus (8) Target Center
9,050
11-1
13 Sat 23 12:30 Chicago ESPN 79-67 Whalen (25) Brunson (7) Whalen (8) Target Center
9,267
12-1
14 Wed 27 8:00 Phoenix FS-N 96-80 Augustus
Brunson (16)
Brunson (13) Moore
Whalen (6)
Target Center
9,674
13-1
July (2–3)
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
15 Sun 1 3:00 @ San Antonio 84-93 Wright (18) Brunson (10) Brunson (4) AT&T Center
6,568
13-2
16 Thu 5 3:00 @ Los Angeles NBATV
TWC101
90-96 Augustus (18) Brunson
McWilliams-Franklin (9)
McWilliams-Franklin (6) Staples Center
11,256
13-3
17 Sat 7 8:00 Connecticut FS-N
CPTV-S
80-86 Moore (19) Brunson
McWilliams-Franklin (8)
Whalen (5) Target Center
10,882
13-4
18 Tue 10 12:30 @ Tulsa 107-86 Wiggins (25) McWilliams-Franklin (8) Whalen (7) BOK Center
6,012
14-4
19 Thu 12 12:00 Tulsa FS-N 89-72 Moore (28) McWilliams-Franklin (12) Whalen (8) Target Center
15,318
15-4
Summer Olympic break
August (6–0)
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
Summer Olympic break
20 Fri 17 8:00 Washington NBATV 98-69 Augustus (20) Brunson (7) Whalen (9) Target Center
10,933
16-4
21 Sun 19 7:00 Tulsa 83-59 Moore (22) Moore (10) Moore (6) Target Center
10,223
17-4
22 Tue 21 10:00 @ Seattle ESPN2 86-73 Augustus (22) Brunson (14) Whalen (9) KeyArena
6,169
18-4
23 Sat 25 7:00 @ Atlanta ESPN2 84-74 Augustus (23) Brunson (13) Whalen (8) Philips Arena
7,224
19-4
24 Tue 28 8:00 San Antonio NBATV 96-84 (OT) Augustus
McWilliams-Franklin (19)
Brunson (20) Whalen (8) Target Center
8,532
20-4
25 Fri 31 8:00 Tulsa NBATV 92-83 Brunson
Moore
Whalen (19)
Brunson (11) Moore (8) Target Center
9,213
21-4
September (6-3)
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
26 Tue 4 8:00 Los Angeles NBATV 88-77 Augustus
Moore (23)
Moore (9) McWilliams-Franklin (5) Target Center
8,123
22-4
27 Fri 7 8:00 Atlanta FS-N
SSO
97-93 (2OT) Moore (23) Brunson (18) Whalen (5) Target Center
9,308
23-4
28 Sun 9 3:00 @ San Antonio NBATV 81-62 Moore (18) Brunson
Moore (12)
Moore (6) AT&T Center
6,025
24-4
29 Tue 11 8:00 @ Chicago CN100 70-83 Moore (18) Brunson
Wright (5)
Moore (7) Allstate Arena
4,296
24-5
30 Fri 14 7:00 @ Indiana 66-64 Moore (15) Moore (7) Moore (5) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
8,819
25-5
31 Mon 17 8:00 Indiana NBATV
FS-N
FS-I
86-79 Moore (29) Whalen (8) Whalen (6) Target Center
9,523
26-5
32 Thu 20 10:30 @ Los Angeles NBATV
TWC101
76-92 Wright (19) Peters (13) Thorn (5) Staples Center
10,217
26-6
33 Fri 21 10:00 @ Phoenix NBATV
FS-N
89-66 Moore (21) Peters (9) Peters (6) US Airways Center
7,217
27-6
34 Sun 23 3:00 @ San Antonio 84-99 Augustus (18) Peters (10) Whalen (5) AT&T Center
8,084
27-7
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess or ESPN3.com

Postseason

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2012 Game Log: Postseason
Western Conference Semifinals
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series
1 September 28 9:00 Seattle ESPN2 78-70 Whalen (20) Brunson (11) Whalen (6) Target Center
9,213
1-0
2 September 30 9:00 @ Seattle ESPN 79-86 (2OT) Brunson (20) Brunson(15) Whalen (5) KeyArena
8,479
1-1
3 October 2 9:00 Seattle ESPN2 73-72 Augustus (21) Brunson (9) McWilliams-Franklin (4) Target Center
8,023
2-1
Western Conference Finals
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series
1 October 4 8:00 Los Angeles ESPN2 94-77 Moore (20) Brunson (10) Augustus (7) Target Center
8,513
1-0
2 October 7 3:30 @ Los Angeles ABC 80-79 Augustus (21) Brunson (10) McWilliams-Franklin
Whalen (5)
Staples Center
10,791
2-0
WNBA Finals
Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series
1 October 14 8:00 Indiana ESPN2 70-76 Augustus (23) Brunson
Moore (10)
Whalen (4) Target Center
14,322
0-1
2 October 17 8:00 Indiana ESPN 83-71 Augustus (27) Brunson (7) McWilliams-Franklin
Moore
Whalen (4)
Target Center
13,478
1-1
3 October 19 8:00 @ Indiana ESPN2 59-76 Brunson (12) Brunson (9) Wiggins (3) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
18,165
1-2
4 October 21 8:00 @ Indiana ESPN2 78-87 Whalen (22) Augustus (7) Whalen (8) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
15,213
1-3

Statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season

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Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Jessica Adair 19 0 8.8 .351 .000 .571 2.10 0.3 0.30 0.21 2.4
Seimone Augustus 29 29 28.5 .491 .437 .852 3.60 2.5 0.93 0.21 16.6
Rebekkah Brunson 31 31 27.0 .505 .000 .679 8.90 1.2 1.19 0.94 11.4
Amber Harris 27 0 8.9 .404 .389 .682 1.90 0.6 0.33 0.48 3.5
Taj McWilliams-Franklin 33 33 26.6 .519 .400 .750 5.40 2.5 1.03 1.39 8.4
Maya Moore 34 34 29.7 .465 .388 .879 6.00 3.6 1.47 0.65 16.4
Devereaux Peters 30 2 14.1 .560 .000 .706 3.80 1.1 0.47 0.77 5.3
Erin Thorn 26 0 7.5 .362 .353 1.000 0.90 0.9 0.15 0.00 2.0
Lindsay Whalen 33 33 27.0 .505 .500 .727 4.20 5.4 0.70 0.18 11.5
Candice Wiggins 34 1 21.8 .360 .397 .865 2.10 2.0 0.71 0.12 6.8
Julie Wojta 1 0 4.0 .000 .000 .000 2.00 0.0 0.00 0.00 0.0
Monica Wright 34 7 19.4 .458 .364 .740 2.40 1.9 1.03 0.18 8.6

Awards and honors

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  • Maya Moore was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 16, 2012
  • Maya Moore was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of September 3, 2012
  • Taj McWilliams-Franklin became the WNBA's all-time leading offensive rebounder
  • WNBA record for most consecutive wins to begin a season (10)
  • Team record for highest field goal percentage in a single game (.695), July 10 vs. Tulsa
  • Lindsay Whalen finished as a Peak Performer, averaging 5.4 assists.

References

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  1. ^ Minnesota-Phoenix Archived 2013-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Lynx beat Shock 83-59, clinch playoff berth". Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  3. ^ "Minnesota 97, Atlanta 93 (2OT)". Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
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