2019 Minnesota Lynx season

The 2019 WNBA season of the Minnesota Lynx was their 21st season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Lynx finished the 2018 season with a record of 18–16, finishing fourth in the Western Conference and seventh overall in the league, while qualifying for the playoffs, before ultimately being beat by Los Angeles in the first Round of the 2018 WNBA Playoffs.

2019 Minnesota Lynx season
Coach	Cheryl Reeve
Arena	Target Center
Attendance	9,069 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	4th (Western)
Playoff finish	7th Seed; Lost in First Round to Seattle
Team Leaders
Points	Odyssey Sims – 14.5 ppg
Rebounds	Sylvia Fowles – 8.9 rpg
Assists	Odyssey Sims – 5.4 apg
Media
Television	Fox Sports North, ESPN, NBATV
← 2018 season 2020 season →

The Lynx in action at Dallas

On February 5, 2019, Maya Moore announced that she would not be playing in the 2019 season citing a need to spend more time with family and to focus on her ministry dreams.^[1] On March 14, the Lynx announced that they promoted Walt Hopkins to a full-time assistant coach, while also adding Plenette Pierson to an assistant coaching role.^[2]

Despite Moore's retirement, the Lynx started off the season strong, going on a three-game winning streak. However, they could not keep the momentum going, winning only three of their next nine games, including a four-game losing streak, to finish June with a 6–6 record. July proved to be more of the same, with the team winning their first three games in the month, but losing their last three and finishing 4–4 for the month. August was another up-and-down month. The Lynx finished 6–5 on the month, which included losing three games and then winning three games to finish the month. The team did manage to extend their three-game winning streak into a five-game winning streak, but lost their season finale.

Their final record of 18–16 earned them the seventh seed in the playoffs. They faced off against the sixth-seeded Seattle Storm. The Storm earned the right to host the game by winning the regular season series 3–1. Napheesa Collier scored a double double in her playoff debut, but it was ultimately not enough as the Lynx lost by ten points.

Collier's solid postseason continued when she won Rookie of the Year. Collier is the fourth Lynx player to win the award, and the first since Maya Moore.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2019 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/team/country
1	6	Napheesa Collier	United States	Connecticut Huskies
2	16	Jessica Shepard	United States	Notre Dame
2	18	Natisha Hiedeman	United States	Marquette
2	20	Cierra Dillard	United States	Buffalo
3	30	Kenisha Bell	United States	Minnesota

Trades and roster changes

Date	Trade
February 1, 2019	Signed F Karima Christmas-Kelly[3]
February 2, 2019	Re-Signed G Seimone Augustus[4]
February 8, 2019	Signed F/C Damiris Dantas[5]
February 22, 2019	Signed F Jillian Alleyne[6]
February 28, 2019	Re-Signed F Erlana Larkins and Signed F Kelsey Griffin[7][8]
April 10, 2019	Traded G Natisha Hiedeman to Connecticut in exchange for G Lexie Brown.[9]
April 11, 2019	Traded G Tanisha Wright to New York in exchange for a second round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft.[10]
April 17, 2019	Signed F Shao Ting[11]
April 22, 2019	Traded G Alexis Jones to Los Angeles in exchange for G Odyssey Sims.[12]
May 11, 2019	Waived G Cierra Dillard[13]
May 16, 2019	Waived G Taylor Emery[14]
May 21, 2019	Traded their third round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft to Chicago in exchange for C Alaina Coates[15]
	Traded their second round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft to Phoenix in exchange for G Stephanie Talbot[16]
May 22, 2019	Waived F Erlana Larkins[17]
July 2, 2019	Signed F Asia Taylor and G Kenisha Bell[18]
July 13, 2019	Waived F Shao Ting and activated F Temi Fagbenle[19]
July 14, 2019	Waived C Alaina Coates[20]
July 19, 2019	Waived G Kenisha Bell[21]
July 25, 2019	Waived F Asia Taylor
July 30, 2019	Signed F Jillian Alleyne to a 7-Day Contract[22]
August 6, 2019	Signed F Jillian Alleyne to a 2nd 7-Day Contract[23]
August 13, 2019	Signed F Jillian Alleyne to a 3rd 7-Day Contract[24]
August 22, 2019	Signed F Bridget Carleton to a 7-Day Contract[25]

Additions

Player	Date	Former team
Karima Christmas-Kelly	February 1, 2019	Dallas Wings
Damiris Dantas	February 8, 2019	Atlanta Dream
Lexie Brown	April 11, 2019	Connecticut Sun
Odyssey Sims	April 22, 2019	Los Angeles Sparks

Subtractions

Player	Date	New team/reason
Lindsay Whalen	August 13, 2018	Retirement
James Wade (assistant coach)	November 18, 2018	Chicago Sky Head Coach
Maya Moore	February 5, 2019	Taking Year Off

Roster

2019 Minnesota Lynx roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 33 Augustus, Seimone (C) 6' 0" (1.83m) 172 lb (78kg) 1984-04-30 LSU 13 G 4 Brown, Lexie 5' 9" (1.75m) 158 lb (72kg) 1994-10-27 Duke 1 G/F 21 Carleton, Bridget 6' 1" (1.85m) 195 lb (88kg) 1997-05-22 Iowa State R F 0 Christmas-Kelly, Karima  6' 0" (1.83m) 209 lb (95kg) 1989-09-11 Duke 8 G 24 Collier, Napheesa 6' 2" (1.88m) 182 lb (83kg) 1996-09-23 Connecticut R F 92 Dantas, Damiris 6' 3" (1.91m) 206 lb (93kg) 1992-11-17 Brazil 4 F 14 Fagbenle, Temi 6' 4" (1.93m) 179 lb (81kg) 1992-09-08 USC 2 C 34 Fowles, Sylvia (C) 6' 6" (1.98m) 227 lb (103kg) 1985-10-06 LSU 11 F 23 Moore, Maya (S) 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) 1989-06-11 Connecticut 8 G 3 Robinson, Danielle (C) 5' 9" (1.75m) 136 lb (62kg) 1989-05-10 Oklahoma 7 F 10 Shepard, Jessica  6' 3" (1.91m) 199 lb (90kg) 1996-09-11 Notre Dame R G 1 Sims, Odyssey 5' 8" (1.73m) 163 lb (74kg) 1992-07-13 Baylor 5 F 8 Talbot, Stephanie 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1994-06-15 Australia 2	Head coach Cheryl Reeve (La Salle) Assistant coaches Shelley Patterson (Washington State) Walt Hopkins (Nevada) Plenette Pierson (Texas Tech) Athletic trainer Chuck Barta (UW–La Crosse) Assistant trainer Kate Taber (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Preseason

2019 pre-season game log
May: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 10 Washington W 86–79 Sims (20) Fowles (11) Sims (7) Target Center 3,201 1–0 2 May 19 @ Las Vegas W 79–75 Sims (25) Fowles (7) Brown (7) Cox Pavilion 1–1
2019 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2019 game log Total: 18–16 (Home: 11–6; Road: 7–10)
May: 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 25 Chicago W 89–71 Collier (27) Shepard (13) Shepard (6) Target Center 8,524 1–0 2 May 29 Seattle W 72–61 Sims (15) Fowles (13) Sims (5) Target Center 8,092 2–0
June : 4–6 (Home: 2–3; Road: 2–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 June 1 @ Dallas W 70–67 Dantas (20) Fowles (12) Sims (5) College Park Center 6,535 3–0 4 June 4 @ Seattle L 77–84 Collier (17) Fowles (5) Sims (6) Angel of the Winds Arena 5,711 3–1 5 June 6 Phoenix W 58–56 Sims (15) 3 tied (6) Tied (3) Target Center 8,001 4–1 6 June 8 Los Angeles L 85–89 Brown (21) Fowles (13) Sims (7) Target Center 8,834 4–2 7 June 12 @ New York L 69–75 Fowles (16) Fowles (11) Robinson (7) Westchester County Center 1,181 4–3 8 June 14 Connecticut L 81–85 Sims (25) Fowles (9) Dantas (5) Target Center 8,803 4–4 9 June 16 Las Vegas L 75–80 Dantas (22) Fowles (9) Dantas (6) Target Center 8,392 4–5 10 June 22 New York W 92–83 Sims (20) Fowles (10) Dantas (5) Target Center 8,600 5–5 11 June 25 @ Indiana W 78–74 Sims (25) Fowles (11) Sims (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 4,692 6–5 12 June 30 @ Dallas L 86–89 Sims (23) Fowles (9) Sims (8) College Park Center 4,521 6–6
July : 4–4 (Home: 2–2; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 13 July 2 Atlanta W 85–68 Talbot (24) Collier (11) Sims (8) Target Center 8,208 7–6 14 July 6 @ Connecticut W 74–71 Sims (21) Fowles (11) Sims (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,076 8–6 15 July 10 @ Chicago W 73–72 Sims (16) Fowles (12) Sims (4) Wintrust Arena 8,508 9–6 16 July 12 @ Atlanta L 53–60 Robinson (14) Fowles (12) Sims (7) State Farm Arena 4,001 9–7 17 July 14 Phoenix W 75–62 Sims (15) Fowles (13) Robinson (5) Target Center 8,801 10–7 18 July 17 Seattle L 79–90 Brown (20) Fowles (7) Robinson (10) Target Center 8,403 10–8 19 July 21 @ Las Vegas L 74–79 Sims (19) Collier (6) Tied (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center 4,352 10–9 20 July 24 Washington L 71–79 Brown (19) Fowles (12) Sims (4) Target Center 17,934 10–10
August : 6–5 (Home: 4–1; Road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 21 August 3 @ Indiana L 75–86 Fowles (17) Collier (7) Sims (5) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,884 10–11 22 August 6 @ Atlanta W 85–69 Collier (22) Tied (11) Collier (5) State Farm Arena 3,395 11–11 23 August 9 Connecticut W 89–57 Fowles (17) Fowles (12) Sims (9) Target Center 8,892 12–11 24 August 11 @ Washington L 78–101 Sims (20) Collier (6) Sims (8) St. Elizabeth's East Arena 4,200 12–12 25 August 13 @ New York W 89–73 Sims (17) Fowles (8) Sims (6) Westchester County Center 1,570 13–12 26 August 16 Washington L 79–86 Fowles (16) Collier (9) Tied (5) Target Center 8,803 13–13 27 August 18 @ Seattle L 74–82 Sims (30) Collier (5) Robinson (9) Alaska Airlines Arena 9,000 13–14 28 August 20 @ Los Angeles L 71–81 Brown (20) Tied (7) Collier (4) Staples Center 9,244 13–15 29 August 22 Dallas W 86–70 Collier (19) Tied (7) Dantas (8) Target Center 8,124 14–15 30 August 25 Las Vegas W 98–77 Tied (23) Tied (6) Robinson (8) Target Center 8,834 15–15 31 August 27 Chicago W 93–85 Fowles (25) Fowles (12) Sims (8) Target Center 8,092 16–15
September : 2–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 32 September 1 Indiana W 81–73 Sims (17) Collier (10) 3 tied (4) Target Center 8,833 17–15 33 September 6 @ Phoenix W 83–69 Sims (22) Fowles (11) Sims (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena 12,140 18–15 34 September 8 @ Los Angeles L 68–77 Collier (16) Collier (11) Dantas (9) Staples Center 13,500 18–16
2019 season schedule

Playoffs

2019 playoff game log Total: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1)
First Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 11 @ Seattle Storm L 74–84 Dantas (20) Fowles (11) Sims (5) Angel of the Winds Arena 5,011 0–1
2019 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Los Angeles Sparks (3)	22	12	.647	–	15–2	7–10	10–6
2	Las Vegas Aces (4)	21	13	.618	1	13–4	8–9	11–5
3	Seattle Storm (6)	18	16	.529	4	11–6	7–10	10–6
4	Minnesota Lynx (7)	18	16	.529	4	11–6	7–10	7–9
5	Phoenix Mercury (8)	15	19	.441	7	9–8	6–11	5–11
6	e – Dallas Wings	10	24	.294	12	8–9	2–15	5–11

Notes

(#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Playoffs

Main article: 2019 WNBA Playoffs

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 11)					Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 15)					Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 17 – Sept. 24)								WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10)
											1	Washington Mystics	97	103	75	94
						4	Las Vegas Aces	93			4	Las Vegas Aces	95	91	92	90
	5	Chicago Sky	105			5	Chicago Sky	92											1	Washington Mystics	95	87	94	86	89
	8	Phoenix Mercury	76																2	Connecticut Sun	86	99	81	90	78
											2	Connecticut Sun		84	94	78
						3	Los Angeles Sparks	92			3	Los Angeles Sparks		75	68	56
	6	Seattle Storm	84			6	Seattle Storm	69
	7	Minnesota Lynx	74

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

Statistics

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

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Odyssey Sims	34	34	31.9	41.5	26.9	79.5	3.4	5.4	1.4	0.1	14.5
Sylvia Fowles	34	34	29.5	58.8	0	70.7	8.9	1.5	0.9	1.4	13.6
Napheesa Collier	34	34	33.3	49.0	36.1	79.2	6.6	2.6	1.9	0.9	13.1
Danielle Robinson	34	26	27.0	43.7	22.0	87.9	3.5	3.7	1.2	0.2	10.1
Damiris Dantas	26	26	25.7	43.2	39.3	73.1	4.5	3.2	0.7	0.6	9.2
Lexie Brown	33	0	18.3	40.2	38.5	78.9	1.4	1.4	0.9	0.0	7.6
Temi Fagbenle	18	0	15.1	37.0	32.6	72.2	2.9	0.8	0.3	0.3	5.4
Stephanie Talbot	33	9	17.0	37.0	32.6	87.1	2.4	1.2	0.9	0.3	5.2
Jessica Shepard	6	0	18.7	31.3	16.7	75.0	5.7	3.5	0.3	0.2	4.8
Seimone Augustus	12	7	13.0	31.3	16.7	75.0	0.6	1.3	0.4	0.1	3.8
Karima Christmas-Kelly	6	0	12.0	27.8	27.3	60.0	0.8	1.0	0.8	0.2	2.7
Bridget Carleton	4	0	2.8	50.0	50.0	0	0.3	0	0	0	0.8

Awards and milestones

Recipient	Award/milestone	Date awarded	Reference
Odyssey Sims	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 15, 2019	[26]
Sylvia Fowles
Napheesa Collier	WNBA All-Star Replacement Selection	July 22, 2019	[27]
Danielle Robinson	WNBA Community Assist Award - June	July 23, 2019	[28]
Napheesa Collier	WNBA Rookie of the Month - July	August 1, 2019	[29]
	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	August 26, 2019	[30]
	Rookie of the Year	September 16, 2019	[31]
	WNBA All-Rookie Team	September 16, 2019	[32]
Cheryl Reeve	WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award	September 18, 2019	[33]