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Lynx Sweep Dream, Win First WNBA Title

ATLANTA (AP) Seimone Augustus and the Minnesota Lynx turned up the defensive pressure on Angel McCoughtry and the Atlanta Dream.

The result was the final entry in a near-perfect postseason as the Lynx beat the Dream 73-67 on Friday night to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA championship series.

Augustus had 16 points and Maya Moore, returning to her Atlanta home, had 15 - including a key 3-pointer late in the game - to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Lynx won their first WNBA title.

McCoughtry had a game-high 22 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. McCoughtry made only 9 of 25 shots as the Dream were held to 34.6 percent shooting from the field.

"We felt we didn't show them what a good team we were defensively in the first two games," said Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve, who was soaked by a bubbly spray before her postgame news conference.

Augustus had the primary defensive assignment on McCoughtry, who set a WNBA finals record with 38 points in Game 2.

"Tonight we just kind of smothered her and forced her into bad shots," Augustus said.

Minnesota closed the postseason with six straight wins, including sweeps of Phoenix in the Western Conference finals and Atlanta in the championship series.

Most Minnesota players celebrated in a pile of hugs on the court. Taj McWilliams-Franklin, the 41-year-old starting center, headed to the bench to engulf Reeve in a hug.

Erika de Souza, who had 11 points, was Atlanta's only other scorer in double figures.

"I'm just glad we were able to finish playing Lynx basketball by being a good defensive team," Moore said.

Minnesota had four scorers in double figures as Rebekkah Brunson had 13 points and nine rebounds and Candice Wiggins had 10 points.

Atlanta was swept by Seattle in the 2010 WNBA finals.

The Dream trailed by eight points in the final quarter before making a late charge.

Two free throws by McCoughtry cut Minnesota's lead to 64-40. Following a turnover, Iziane Castro Marques hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to one with 1:17 remaining.

Poor shooting from the field forced Atlanta to foul in the final minute.

Two free throws by McWilliams-Franklin and another by Lindsay Whalen pushed the lead to 67-63. Following a miss by Castro Marques, McWilliams-Franklin added two more free throws with 35 seconds remaining.

McCoughtry had two late layups, but the Dream could come no closer than four points in the final 30 seconds.

The Dream held a 19-12 lead in the first quarter and led 37-33 at halftime.

There were two ties in the third quarter, the last at 41. Minnesota closed the period with an 11-4 run to lead 52-45 entering the final quarter.

The Dream opened the fourth quarter with consecutive baskets by Alison Bales and Castro Marques to pull within three points. Augustus quickly came off the bench, and Atlanta's comeback bid ended.

A 7-2 run gave the Lynx a 59-51 lead.

After McCoughtry's basket cut the Minnesota lead to 61-56, Moore answered with a big 3-pointer that went through the net as the shot clock sounded.

"If Maya Moore's shot doesn't go in, who knows what's going to happen," Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors said. "We had the momentum and we had them backpedaling."

McWilliams-Franklin's status as starting center had been uncertain after she sprained her right knee, forcing her to leave Wednesday night's game. She did start, wearing pads on both knees, and had seven points, four rebounds and four assists. She made four free throws in the final 1:07.

"Maybe now they're sore," Reeve said of McWilliams-Franklin's knees, "but when you're in a close-out moment for the WNBA finals, you don't feel a thing."

With the health of McWilliams-Franklin a concern, Reeve was upset when backup center Jessica Adair was called for her second foul late in the first quarter. After receiving a warning from official Michael Price to return to the bench, Reeve added another complaint and drew a technical foul.

After there were a combined 78 free throws in the Game 2 at Minnesota, there were only 34 - 17 for each team - called in Game 3.

NOTES: Former NBA star Julius Erving, who lives in Atlanta, had a front-row seat. Rapper Lil Wayne was also in the crowd. ... The attendance was 11,543, including 1,500 tickets purchased by the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks and distributed by the Dream on Thursday. ... Minnesota was called for 10 fouls in the first half while Atlanta drew only two.

Augustus Outduels McCoughtry, Lynx Take 2-0 Lead

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Seimone Augustus, her left knee sore and looking exhausted from an all-around effort, lifted the Minnesota Lynx to the brink of their first WNBA title.

She's not ready to relax just yet. There's still some work to do.

Augustus scored 36 points to lead Minnesota's second-half surge, and the Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 101-95 in Game 2 of the league championship series on Wednesday night.

"The legacy isn't complete until you're holding the trophy," Augustus said.

Jessica Adair added 13 points in 18 minutes in a reserve role for the Lynx, who took a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five matchup by overcoming 38 points by the Dream's Angel McCoughtry, who broke her own record for a WNBA finals game set last year. Game 3 is set for Friday night in Atlanta.

McCoughtry had 24 points in the first half, but she shot just 2 for 13 after halftime and shook her head in disgust afterward at what the Dream complained was an unfair discrepancy - 33-23, Atlanta - in the foul calls by officials Sue Blauch, Lamont Simpson and Kurt Walker.

"Let us battle out. Let us scratch and claw to the end. It's entertainment. That's what people want to see," McCoughtry said, a scowl on her face.

Coach Marynell Meadors was just as outspoken.

"I just really don't understand a lot of the things being called," she said.

With veteran center Taj McWilliams-Franklin on the bench with a sprained right knee suffered late in the third quarter, WNBA Rookie of the Year Maya Moore sitting for most of the game in foul trouble and fellow All-Star Rebekkah Brunson having a quiet game, Augustus took over.

Hearing "MVP" chants as she swished her free throws down the stretch, the sixth-year forward - who has suffered through her share of losing and injuries - finished 11 for 14 from the floor and 13 for 16 at the line to help the Lynx fight back from a pair of 10-point holes in the second quarter.

"As they say, 'Mone was in the zone," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.

The Lynx took a 77-76 lead early in the fourth, their first edge since 20-19, and used a 10-0 spurt to turn an 85-81 deficit with five minutes to go into a comfortable lead in the closing minutes.

Augustus knocked down a floating baseline jumper with two Dream defenders in her face to give the Lynx an 87-85 lead. Lindsay Whalen, who had 13 points, banked in a spin-dribble turnaround shot and drew a foul to make the arena erupt in excitement as Moore lifted her up in a bear hug to celebrate. Whalen's three-point play made it 91-85 with 2:25 left.

Though the onslaught of whistles interrupted the flow of the game, which lasted 2 hours and 26 minutes, the Lynx weren't rattled.

"However the game is called, you just have to play through it. Whatever the refs are calling, that's what they see and you just have to move on," Whalen said.

The Dream led 58-50 after a dizzying first half by two of the WNBA's three highest-scoring teams. But McCoughtry started to miss more after halftime, unlike in Game 1 when she had 19 of her 33 points in the third quarter, and the Dream - who finished 21 for 32 at the line - bricked a bunch of free throws that came back to hurt them later.

Iziane Castro Marques was twice fouled while taking a 3-pointer and made only one of those six free-throw attempts. Lindsey Harding had 10 of her 14 points in the first half for the Dream. Erika de Souza finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Target Center was alive again, giving local sports fans a chance to cheer for some success in this swooning market. All kinds of folks in green and white T-shirts waving their white pom pons turned the atmosphere into another resounding advantage for the Lynx. Vikings players Bernard Berrian and Kevin Williams checked out the game from their court-side seats. Timberwolves executive David Kahn was there.

Even LeBron James was watching, from afar. He raved on Twitter about the performances put on by McCoughtry and Augustus.

After taking a three-game leave to play for her native Brazil in an Olympic qualifying tournament, de Souza brought her broad shoulders - with a tattoo on each one - back to the basket for the Dream, who were outscored 52-30 in the lane and outrebounded 40-28 during Game 1.

The 6-foot-5 de Souza struggled early, missing a short shot, traveling twice and committing an over-the-back foul before settling down and beginning to contribute. Even before she scored a point or grabbed a rebound, though, her presence was valuable, drawing the defense in and making it easier for McCoughtry to find shooting space outside.

The All-WNBA forward, who narrowly finished second in the league in scoring in just her third professional season, hit a leaning bank shot to start the second quarter and finished the frame with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the key - as if to remind the crowd of 15,124 that the first half was all hers.

Well, almost all hers. Augustus had 14 points in the second quarter herself, deftly using her crossover dribble to slash to the lane and convert shot after off-balance bank shot.

"If I had to give everything I had, then so be it," Augustus said.

Lynx Dominate Fourth Quarter, Take Game 1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) More than 15,000 fans walked into Target Center on Sunday night, hoping that the Minnesota Lynx could give them a little relief from the sports abyss the Twin Cities sit in at the moment.

They waved white pom-poms and hollered at the top of their lungs, and Rebekkah Brunson and Co. made sure they didn't go home disappointed.

Brunson had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Seimone Augustus added 22 points to lead the Lynx to an 88-74 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the WNBA finals.

"It was amazing," Brunson said of the charged-up atmosphere. "The city's been excited about this team from the beginning of the season and everybody keeps jumping on and jumping on and we love it. We love the fact we can come in here and play in front of a crowd like this."

Lindsay Whalen added 15 points and six assists and the Lynx turned a close game into a runaway with a 13-0 run to open the fourth quarter. Taj McWilliams-Franklin added eight points and 10 boards while battling an illness.

Angel McCoughtry scored 19 of her 33 points in the third quarter and Lindsey Harding scored 20 points for the Dream.

Atlanta led by 12 points midway through the second quarter, but the Lynx kept them off the board for the first 4:34 of the fourth quarter to take control. With starting center Erika de Souza missing the game while playing for Brazil in an Olympic qualifying tournament, the Dream were outrebounded 40-28 and outscored in the paint 52-30.

"Look at the rebounds," Harding said. "We needed her."

De Souza will be back for Game 2 of the best-of-five series, which is Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

For those who say the women's game lacks everything that makes the sport great - athleticism, shot-making and competitive fire - Game 1 will not help them make their case.

Maya Moore's sensational reverse layup, a scoop shot that started from clear on the other side of the rim, got the Lynx started on a third-quarter surge that got them back into the game. Brunson finished a three-point play and Augustus's no-look pass was finished by Whalen's reverse layup to cap a 9-0 run that gave them a 51-49 lead.

"We've got some athletes up in here!" Brunson boasted.

On the other end, McCoughtry was simply unstoppable, hitting a incredible array of jumpers from odd angles all over the floor, blocking shots and forcing steals to keep her team from faltering. She scored all but four of Atlanta's 23 points in the third and the game was tied at 62 heading into the fourth.

Whalen started the deciding surge with a three-point play and a shooter's roll jumper and the Lynx turned up the pressure on the defensive end to get two fast break layups to take a 75-62 lead with 5:45 to play.

"We knew our run would come at some point," Whalen said.

The Lynx blocked a WNBA finals record 11 shots and held Atlanta to 37 percent shooting in their first finals game in franchise history.

"We couldn't find the rim for about four minutes," Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. "And everything we did resulted in points for Minnesota."

After 12 largely anonymous and often wretched seasons of existence, the Lynx finally broke through this year in a major way. With Augustus healthy for the first time in three years and Moore coming from UConn with the No. 1 overall pick, the Lynx blew the doors off the rest of the league, finishing 27-7, six games better than the second-best team.

The Twins and Timberwolves both finished in last place and the Vikings are off to an 0-4 start, leaving Minnesota's sporting public desperate for someone to cheer for.

The fired-up crowd of 15,258 - the second-largest in franchise history - was treated to a nerve-racking start.

The Dream just seemed a step quicker than the Lynx in the early going, with Harding running circles around Whalen and the rest of the Lynx in the first 13 minutes. They forced six turnovers and Harding hit two 3s as they jumped out to a 29-17 lead early in the second quarter.

The Dream are playing in the finals for the second year in a row after losing to Seattle last year. Not bad for a franchise that just started four years ago. They dispatched top-seeded Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals to get here, winning on the road in Game 3 to advance.

"The crowd energizes them and it just weighs you down," McCoughtry said. "It's good to know that we were the ones that kind of messed ourselves up. That's a good thing for us because we can adjust that."

The Rise of Seimone Augustus

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. -- A few months before the most successful season in Seimone Augustus's professional career, she got a letter from a fan.

In it, the fan told her that if Augustus were to play as hard as she could on both sides of the floor, the Minnesota Lynx's star guard would be "truly unstoppable."

Augustus took it to heart, much more than the average fan letter. Largely because it was sent by Tamika Catchings.

"I stopped right there," Augustus said. "I'm thinking, like, the player that Catch is, all the accolades she's won -- numerous Defensive Player of the Year awards -- for her to use the word �unstoppable,' she must be seeing something that I don't see in myself."

Then a teammate of Catchings' on Galatasaray, a powerhouse in the Turkish Basketball League, Augustus spent the rest of the summer getting beat up by the 2011 WNBA MVP in practice. When Augustus had the ball, there was Catchings. When Catchings had the ball, the implication was clear: Augustus better be there, too.

"If you know Catchings, you know what kind of player she is," Augustus said. "I got pushed every day in practice, so I had no choice but to come back here better than what I was before."

Augustus' trip to the summit of the WNBA -- she's the leading scorer for the team with the best record in the WNBA, playing for her (and the franchise's) first-ever title -- has taken a little longer than she would have liked. It's taken a little longer than many of her fans would have liked, too, as she suffered through five straight losing seasons (and a combined 63-107 record) in Minnesota after becoming the No. 1 overall pick in 2006.

But in 2011, everything -- at last -- came together, for essentially the first time since high school, when she graced the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids under the headline "Is This the Next Michael Jordan?" In college, the two-time National Player of the Year brought L.S.U. to the Final Four three times, but never reached the championship game. Then the losing started. And through it all, Augustus did virtually everything right, as so much around her went wrong.

"It's just great to see her enjoying the season and playing so well," said Lynx teammate and Rookie of the Year Maya Moore. "Having to overcome so many things that I don't think a lot of people even realized were going on, it's just one of those feel-good stories that you see."

Which is why it seems like so long ago that Augustus came into the 2010 season 20 pounds overweight and then spent the whole year trying to catch up and trusting-trusting-trusting that she'd return to her No. 1 Pick/Future of the Franchise form, even though she wasn't quite sure she'd ever be able get there again.

"Honestly, Seimone Augustus is one of the most underrated players out there," said Atlanta Dream star Angel McCoughtry. "They have to give her more love and praise. She's just awesome. People don't really understand -- Seimone came back from an ACL injury. It's not easy coming back from an ACL injury, and I've never seen somebody come back and destroy the game like she has. People have to give her more props for that."

The hits came in succession.

Players moved in and out of Minnesota. Coaches, too. The ownership maintained faith in the team, but no amount of faith put enough wins on the board to even send the Lynx to a single Playoff appearance in Augustus' first five years in Minnesota.

"My dad used to always say 'You need to learn how to be a good loser before you can be a good winner,'" Augustus said. "I never understood what he meant by that until I got here. It was a very trying time. When you're losing, nobody's happy about the situation. You needed to be assured that the team was going in the right direction, that we were gonna try to get the right players here and get the right coaches to get some stability."

Then her ACL snapped, tearing like a broken contract in a game against the Phoenix Mercury in June of 2009. That took a year to recover from, and even that timetable was a little ambitious.

Knee injuries happen far more often to female athletes than their male counterparts. Especially the ACL, which tears at a rate five times more for women than it does for men, according to a story in the New York Times in 2009 [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/27acl.html?pagewanted=all].

But for WNBA players, especially ones that play at a level as high as Augustus does, they're -- in some sense -- a fact of life. Love of the game equates, far too often, to the inability to play it.

"It's strenuous on the female's body to play basketball in general, but with the season we have, where international flows into WNBA and we never really get a break or time to recover from nick-nacking injuries, it ends up being a more significant injury," Augustus said. "It causes a whole lot of problems, so that's why we continue to fight to make it so that we can have the option to go overseas and let our bodies recover."

But she came back. She knew that she wouldn't have the burst that'd left so many defenders with warped ankles of the years, but she'd work until she got it back.

Then her body let her down again.

She'd had uterine fibroids for a long time, she said, but they never bothered her. Not until she was ready to get back on the court, when they flared up and forced her to have emergency abdominal surgery just before the 2010 season.

"They never gave me any trouble, and it seemed like as soon as I was ready to get back on the court it happened," Augustus said. "But I just took it and pushed forward."

"There were a lot of reasons to go hang her head," Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said. "It made her more determined. We're the beneficiary of those things, and it's been a great summer for her."

But she still had to lug herself through a 2010 year, and managed to score 16.9 points per game while she was at it (albeit at a career-low 42.9 percent from the field) in 25 games. That gave her 31 games, total, in two years, after she'd missed just three games (and averaged 21.26 points per game) during her pro career.

Then she went overseas and became the property of Tamika Catchings.

"And from that point forward every day [Catchings] came in and she made sure she guarded me on defense," Augustus said. "She made sure on the offensive end she was coming at me and making me play defense. I kind of took it in and respected the fact that she took me under her wing and tried to make me better."

And when she got back, committed to a team that had given her a new contract before that tumultuous 2010 season and finally rewarded her with Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson, coach Cheryl Reeve and a nice little bit of luck named Maya Moore, the burst was back, too.

"She's stepped up her game defensively, which has been so key to our team," Moore said. "It's amazing how she can come in and just get the job done on defense, and go down and kill people on offense.

"Even if other people don't recognize it, we see what she does for our team every day in the games," Moore continued. "She's always matched up against the other team's best guard and she's still leading our team in scoring. It's really amazing, and I don't know if she can really appreciate how hard that is from the outside. ... It's just so hard to be that player, and I'm privileged to play with somebody -- like a Tamika Catchings [does] -- who makes it look like it's easy, but it's so hard."

So Augustus isn't at the peak yet. But, for the first time in years, she's well on her way.

Said Moore: "I think she's gonna get even better. That's the scary part. I don't think she's even maxed out. I don't think she's even reached the top of what she can do."

The Duality of Angel McCoughtry

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. -- One-half of the WNBA's fiercest competitor was in a kissing sort of mood on Saturday,.

So, that other half, which you probably know as Angel McCoughtry, broke into Dream point guard Lindsey Harding's Media Day interview and planted one on her left cheek.

"Angel's my special girl," said Harding with a laugh.

That's the Angel that Angel McCoughtry would prefer you to know. But she knows -- because she hears it all -- that the person you know is not Angel. The person you know is Lori Ann, an alter-ego that was born on the pebbled courts of crime-torn East Baltimore about a decade ago.

"She comes out whenever she wants to," McCoughtry said of Lori Ann. "I haven't talked to her in a while, but usually she comes out in intense situations.

"I think I had too many cells, which kind of formed her in my brain, which made the illusion of Lori Ann come out," she continued in a deadpan, before breaking down and laughing.

To really capture Angel McCoughtry, the second-leading scorer in the WNBA and the catalyst behind the Dream's second straight run to the Finals - which begin on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET in Minneapolis -- you have to think in twos. In uneasy pairs. You have to think of the "goofball" off the court that her teammates glow about, and you have to think of the long-armed vortex that draws jeers every time she's on the road.

You have to think, too, of double natures. To McCoughtry, her alter-ego isn't just a part of her personality. Lori Ann's her own person, full of breath and power. "You ever see The Nutty Professor?" she said. And if you're going to think about double natures, you also have to think about double-standards, namely how noble aggression in male athletes morphs into a character flaw on the women's side.

"Some lady came up to my mom and was like, 'Is she mean?'" McCoughtry said. "My mom was like, 'No, my child is not mean!' ... You can't judge a person because they're playing basketball. You're supposed to be intense on the court, and if you're not, then what am I out there for?"

So in a sense, McCoughtry's double-life reflects the maturation of a player who's begun to embrace her role as a face of the WNBA. She's begun to understand the tricky junction where perception and professional edge meet, and how much responsibility comes with that. And that responsibility is why McCoughtry says, in one breath, that "you never explain yourself to anybody, because you can't make everybody happy," but still feels obligated to wrap up her WNBA.com chat on Friday by writing "please don't take my intensity on the court as a bad thing, but just passion for the game."

As such, Angel McCoughtry's facing the same problem that's long complicated the roles of women in the workforce: namely, how to split the difference between underwhelming and overbearing. Her workplace just happens to be televised on ESPN.

"I wish people could get to know Angel, because all they see is Lori Ann," she said. "They get like, 'Lori Ann is this or that,' but I wish they just got to know me."

What people do get to see is exactly what's made McCoughtry one of the most feared (and most productive) players in the WNBA. They get the yelling. The bravado. They get the pouting, which, in McCoughtry's defense, may just be a product of a set of lips that could sell magazines if they weren't selling fouls.

But that's not what you get off the court.

"Angel is one of friendliest people you'd wanna meet," she said. "She's shy, but outgoing at the same time -- if that makes sense. But she's very sweet. And Angel is a goofball."

If you're to believe her coaches and teammates' accounts, what makes Angel and Lori Ann tick is the same thing that's long sent writers stumbling to their desks in frothing pursuit of cliches. Real eye-of-the-tiger, killer-instinct, cutthroat stuff.

Not that any of that stuff is violent.

"She's just really rough and mean sometimes," McCoughtry said of Lori Ann. "She's a go-getter. She wants to win everything. I gotta explain to her like, 'OK, you're gonna win some, you're gonna lose some. Don't get mad, as long as you give your all."

Most of the time, though, all that talk goes nowhere.

And that's why you see the person wearing the 'McCoughtry' jersey doing things like yelling at refs. Or occasionally turning into a mechanical bull in the middle of the lane. Or refusing to come out of the game, like she did when Dream coach Marynell Meadors tried to sub McCoughtry out before halftime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals -- teammates had to usher her off the court.

But in Lori Ann, there's also the person who absolutely takes over. Over the final two-and-a-half months of the regular season, nobody scored more points than McCoughtry, including eventual scoring champ Diana Taurasi. And as her scoring numbers and shooting percentage went up, so did the Dream's play.

"Angel is so competitive, and people mis-read that as having an attitude and things," Meadors said. "She does not have an attitude; she has a confidence that a lot of people don't have. But when she walks between the lines, she's going after the win."

Few players in the WNBA can match what McCoughtry -- or, Lori Ann (sometimes it's tough to know the difference) -- can do when she's on. And for the Dream to erase a 3-9 start this year and finish the season as the second-hottest team in the WNBA, they've needed every ounce of edge that McCoughtry could bring them.

"We've all seen the many sides of Angel," Harding said. "On the floor, off the floor. The thing we love about her is she wants to win. She doesn't care. No matter what it takes, no matter who she has to make mad, she wants to win. I love her competitiveness. ... Just don't make her mad. She's so serious, but it's because she wants to win."

"She's a different person than she is a player," said Dream guard Izi Castro Marques. "She's just a very focused athlete. Like, 'no matter what, I'm gonna win, I'm gonna run you over if I have to.'"

The thing is, McCoughtry says, Lori Ann fades away the minute she steps off the court.

"Thank God," she said. "Man, I wouldn't be a likeable person at all."

Off the court, she's the kind of person who organizes camps for underprivileged kids. And campaigns on behalf of Vaccines for Teens. And, ya know, kisses her point guard on the cheek.

But, as she's growing, she's learning that fans don't usually have the luxury to actually get to know the people they only see on the court. And as the WNBA grows, she'll have more eyes on her when she's at work, which means more chances for Lori Ann to mess up her reputation.

"They don't talk much, they just clash," McCoughtry said. "Lori Ann just comes out. She takes over."

But the clashes are becoming a little less vicious, Meadors said. McCoughtry's finding more and more ways to keep Lori Ann as her secret weapon.

"I see a maturity level she didn't have a couple years ago," Meadors said. "I think she is one of the young faces of this league."

So maybe it's helpful to think about Lori Ann as a complete "separate entity," as McCoughtry called her. Because to really understand Angel McCoughtry, it's best to see her as the point where Angel and Lori Ann and their kind live -- at an intersection. One of many things in and out of their control.

"I'm gonna continue to play the way I play -- with a passion and intensity," McCoughtry said. "Because this is the way I play, and I've been playing like this for a long time."

Finals Preview: (1) Lynx vs. (3) Dream

The 2011 WNBA Finals features a debut appearance for the Western Conference champion Minnesota Lynx and a return trip for the Eastern Conference champion Atlanta Dream.

The Lynx finished the regular season with a league-best and franchise-best record of 27-7 as they finished six games ahead of their closest competitors. After getting past the San Antonio Silver Stars in the Conference Semifinals for their first-ever playoff series win, the Lynx went on to sweep the Phoenix Mercury to advance to the Finals.

But while the Lynx's road to the Finals featured dominant play from Day One, similar to what 2010 champion Seattle did a year ago, the path was not as easy for the Dream.

After making it to the Finals in just their third year of existence in the WNBA, the Dream came into 2011 with the highest expectations they'd ever faced. Unfortunately, the opening month of the season was not kind, as the Dream dropped nine of their first 12 games while playing at less than full strength due to injuries to Angel McCoughtry, Iziane Castro Marques and Sancho Lyttle. Lyttle also missed the first six games of the season with commitments to her Spanish national team.

But once they got back to full strength, the Dream began to play the best basketball in the Eastern Conference over the last two months of the season. After their dismal 3-9 start, the Dream went 17-5 the rest of the way to climb from the cellar to the No. 3 seed in the East. While that secured them a playoff berth, it meant that the Dream would once again need to be road warriors if they wanted to win the title.

In 2010, they were the No. 4 seed and overcame the lack of home-court advantage to sweep through the Eastern Conference and advance to the Finals. But that was as far as they would get, as Seattle swept the championship series in three games. This year, the Dream once again found success on the road, sweeping the Sun in the first round and defeating the Fever in a decisive Game 3 in Indianapolis.

McCoughtry is the catalyst for the Dream and one of the most dangerous players in the WNBA, with her mix of speed, athleticism, scoring ability and defensive instincts. She is also one of the most passionate players on the court, which often fuels her game and inspires her team, but can also be a detriment at times.

The return of Lyttle also coincided with the Dream's run to the playoffs this season. The long, athletic power forward is usually joined on the frontline by Erika de Souza, who missed the final two games of the East Finals and will miss Game 1 of the Finals while she plays in an Olympic qualifying tournament for her Brazilian national team.

In de Souza's absence, Dream coach Marynell Meadors decided to go small in the Conference Finals by inserting Castro Marques into the starting lineup and going with a three-guard lineup to exploit their advantage in athleticism. Castro Marques responded with her two best games of the season to help the Dream advance. Meadors will have a similar decision to make in Game 1 of the Finals before de Souza returns for Game 2.

Together, Lyttle and de Souza form a potent front line combo, but the Lynx seem to have the perfect counter with their own athletic four in Rebekkah Brunson and the veteran savvy of Taj McWilliams-Franklin in the middle. Both Brunson and McWilliams-Franklin struggled in the first two games of the Conference Semis against San Antonio, but they since bounced back to help the Lynx to impressive wins in the decisive Game 3 with the Silver Stars (18-point win), as well as Game 1 (28-point win) and Game 2 (17-point win) of the West Finals against Phoenix.

While the play of the front line is important to the Lynx's success, their star power plays on the perimeter with league assist leader Lindsay Whalen orchestrating the show at the point, scoring machine Seimone Augustus at the two guard and rookie sensation Maya Moore at the small forward.

After two seasons marred by injury, Augustus has returned to form; she is capable of taking over any game with her ability to score from any spot on the floor. The last time she was this healthy the Lynx needed every single point she could provide in order to compete. That is no longer the case.

With the influx of talent in Minnesota over the past two seasons - Brunson (dispersal draft), Whalen (trade), McWilliams-Franklin (free agent) and Moore (college draft) - the Lynx now feature one of the most balanced attacks in the WNBA. In the past, an off shooting night from Augustus was insurmountable, but now there is enough talent surrounding her to pick up the slack. It also forces defenses to play her one-on-one more often, which only makes her more dangerous.

On the other wing is Moore, the 2011 Rookie of the Year, and a player accustomed to playing for championships. Moore admitted to being nervous prior to her first WNBA playoff game and it showed in her performance, as she averaged 13 points and five rebounds while shooting under 40 percent in the Conference Semifinals. She wouldn't stay down for long, as she responded with outstanding play in the Conference Finals, averaging 18 points, seven rebounds and shooting 57 percent from the field -- including a blistering 73 percent from 3-point range.

Watching the last two months of play in the regular season, no teams were hotter than the Lynx and Dream heading into the postseason. So this matchup does not come as a surprise. But now that it is here, how will things play out?

Will the league's best team throughout the entire season finish the job to claim their first WNBA title?

Or will the team that came up short in the Finals a year ago find a way to hoist the trophy this time around?

Some fast facts about the Finals matchup:

The Lynx swept the season series with the Dream in a home-and-home two-game set in mid-June. This was early in the season, when the Dream were still struggling to come together, and is not a true indicator of how competitive this series should be.

This series features two of the three highest-scoring teams during the regular season. The Dream finished second in the league with an average of 82.50 points per game, while the Lynx finished third at 81.50.

The Lynx were much better defensively during the regular season as they finished second in the league in points allowed with an average of 73.62 points per game, while the Dream were third to last at 80.79.

This is the first Finals in WNBA history to feature two female head coaches.

National team commitments have forced to Dream to play eight games shorthanded during the regular season and playoffs. This will increase to nine with de Souza's absence in Game 1 of the Finals.

After being ravaged by injuries for the past two seasons, the Lynx stayed healthy throughout the season. They used the same starting lineup for 33 of their 34 regular season games as well as all of their playoff games.

This series features four No. 1 overall draft picks with two per team: Minnesota's Seimone Augustus (2006) and Maya Moore (2011) and Atlanta's Lindsey Harding (2007, selected by Minnesota) and Angel McCoughtry (2009).

Q&A with Jesse 'The Body' Ventura

Former Minnesota governor and pro wrestler Jesse 'The Body' Ventura has been sitting behind press row during the Lynx' historic run all year long. He can't make it for Games 1 and 2, but he's hoping you'll take his place. All of you.

WNBA.com: We saw you courtside during the last round. What got you into this team?

Jesse Ventura: First of all, let say that I've been there all season long, so I'm not a Johnny-Come-Lately.

I've suffered through many, many years of the Timberwolves, and the reason I'm not a Timberwolves season-ticket-holder anymore is I live in Mexico all winter. So, the only basketball I watch is when I'm in the US in summer, so that fits into the WNBA.

What got me hooked is I did a book tour last winter, and it was during the Final Four of the Women's NCAA Tournament. They were three of the most exciting basketball games I ever saw. I'd watched women's basketball off and on occasionally, but never really paid attention to it, but last spring's Final Four hooked me in.

Then obviously the WNBA screwed up big-time, because Minnesota never gets the No. 1 pick. If you look at all our sports, they never get the No. 1 pick. We can have the most ping pong balls in there, and we ain't gonna get it.

So when I learned that somehow the Lynx had gotten the No. 1 pick, of course I knew who that was gonna be. Having watched the NCAA's, I knew that was gonna be Maya Moore. That piqued my interest even more. I already knew we had Seimone Augustus, and I thought with that combination - in addition to bringing in our hometown Lindsay Whalen, who happened to play for the [University of Minnesota] Gophers when I was Governor, it was the right combination.

WNBA.com: You're a real passionate guy who's always been an evangelist for the things you care about - how much of that do you do for the Lynx?

Jesse Ventura: Not much, because I actually bought a single season ticket this year. My wife, the first lady, she don't like sports, my kids are all grown up and gone now, so it's more or less me going down there by myself, enjoying basketball.

I met some people sitting next to me. Like any season ticket, you get to know the small group that sits next to you. Throughout the summer, I play golf in the afternoon, come home, eat dinner and it's nice to go to a game at night, because I'm never there in the winter

WNBA.com: Mexico's a little more hospitable than Minnesota in winter, huh?

Jesse Ventura: I'm a swimmer, so I've never done anything dealing with snow and ice. I never liked it.

But swimming's a winter sport. I used to love basketball but I had to switch to swimming.

In junior high, grade school basketball, I went against the kid who was gonna see me as a classmate friend in junior high and high school basketball, Danny Carpenter, and he would destroy me.

I knew I could never be a starter, so I switched sports. I switched to swimming and it led me into the NAVY SEALS.

I'm a lot like [Olympic gold medalist] Tom Malchow. He's big and tall and long and everyone assumes he can play basketball. I didn't have the coordination for basketball, but I did for swimming.

WNBA.com: Going to games all year, have noticed any uptick in the excitement around games - maybe a long-suffering, skeptical fan base coming around?

Jesse Ventura: I think it's improving, and it'll get even better when people start paying attention.

I noticed people at the airport greeting the ladies at two in the morning. That's outstanding. That shows you the base is growing. I'd have never expected them to have people waiting for them.

I come from the pro wrestling world, and nobody's waiting for the villain. [During his career in the ring, Ventura lived by the motto "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!"]

WNBA.com: And you were a great heel. As the No. 1 seed, are the Lynx the villains here, or are they an underdog story?

Jesse Ventura: They made some great trades, and whoever orchestrated this team deserved kudos for it. [Lynx GM Roger Griffith] and whoever made the calls of assembling this group of women, signing free agents, making trades that would create great interest, getting Lindsay Whalen deserves a lot of credit.

Everyone was angry when [Whalen] got drafted by Connecticut. Now she's back. A hometown girl - how can you be any better than that?

I learned a lot about other players, like Taj [McWilliams-Franklin] who's remarkable at Age 40, who can dive for a basketball and get up - it's one thing to dive for a basketball, it's another thing to get up

She's a remarkable player, and you hate to bring up age, but age defeats all athletes. Age defeated Muhammad Ali. It defeats everybody. You can't beat Father Time.

But any time you can see a human go out and extend the battle out there, it's remarkable. I met her daughter the other day at the game and said isn't this kind of strange - shouldn't you be on the court with your mom watching?

She just laughed and said 'Yeah, I should be!'

That's a remarkable story in itself. Taj has 3 children, and she's running up and down the court. She's in fantastic condition, and she's been an asset to the game. She's not along for the ride. She's a great contributor out there.

WNBA.com: A lot of the reason why this team is even here is [owner] Glen Taylor, who stuck with the Lynx when a lot of people were telling him to sell.

Jesse Ventura: To me, clearly Glen is successful because he's a bit of a bulldog. He doesn't have a give-up attitude. He's patient enough and fortunately, hopefully, he has the resources to play the game in pro sports and be successful - although I can't understand why these Playoffs aren't completely selling out to the rafters right now.

The Vikings are 0-3. The Twins are in last place, risking losing 100 games this year [they finished with 99] -- the season never panned out because of injuries, but they could win the division next year if they get some pitching.

For the Wolves, what type of season are they gonna have? They're still young and growing, and they've gone through a big transition period. And of course the hockey team, the Wild, they haven't done particularly great, and they're going through a tough transition, too.

If you're a Minnesota professional sports fan, this is the only team here, in my opinion, right now capable of winning a title.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't support your teams when they don't win - I'm no fair-weather fan, and I was a fan of the T-Wolves through some of the worst times possible.

WNBA.com: If they can win it this year, what effect would a title have on the Twin Cities?

Jesse Ventura: I would hope it'd be a very positive one. Hopefully it'll wake people up to how exciting the games are.

They're truly exciting in a strange way because there's no dunking. It's a game where a lay-up is more challenging, because it's not gonna go in every time. In the men's game, it's turned into a great deal of threes and slam dunks and pick and roll. In the ladies game, because there's not the dunking, it's a straight shooting game. It's an interesting game played under the rim, instead of over the rim.

WNBA.com: John Wooden, later in his career, used to talk about he preferred the style of play in the WNBA. What are your thoughts on it?

Jesse Ventura: Now there's too much emphasis on the slam dunk [in the men's game]. More power to the guys who can do the vertical stuff, but that really isn't the game of basketball. When it was started with the peach crate on the wall, nobody was dunking.

That's what the WNBA is. Who's gonna argue with John Wooden? If that's what he says, it's true.

The WNBA game is much more a throwback game in days of old. I grew up to Bill Russell, who did dunk and all that, and Wilt, but I watched a game the other day on ESPN Classic or NBATV and I remember watching Bob Cousy go down the court on a fast break. He did a left-handed bank shot on the board! Cousy drives in, and instead of dunking, he's 10 feet out to the side and he does a left-handed bank shot off the backboard and I thought �Wow, how many players would do that?'

That's what I'd correlate back to the women's game today. It's much more of what basketball used to be.

WNBA.com: Alright, before we let you go, how about a quick elevator-speech pitch to the fans in Minnesota about why they should come out this weekend.

Jesse Ventura: One reason, because the games are so fun. They entertain you in time-outs, and you'd never have to worry about bringing kids to the games.

They have so much going on, plus we have a winner here. Even if we don't have a [championship] here this year, we're gonna win. There's no doubt in my mind. But I do think we're gonna win this year.

Now, it's a matter of how we have to put the dynasty together - and dynasties require fans. This is an opportunity for a dynasty, and you don't see that often today. But for the next three-to-four years we could have a dynasty here.

WNBA.com: Mr. Governor, thanks for the time today - any parting shots?

Jesse Ventura: Print this: On TV on Sunday when the Vikings were done playing, I sat around and watched the WNBA instead of watching Green Bay and Chicago. I left the NFL Sunday to watch the WNBA on Sunday.

WNBA.com: I'm surprised you could do anything after that Vikings game ...

Jesse Ventura: With the Vikings I've already come to grips they will never win a title in my lifetime. I figure I'll be dead by the time they win - and don't forget, I lived through Bud Grant, who brought the Vikings to four Super Bowls.

I really hope the [WNBA] does exceptionally well. They're talented athletes who get paid, but they ain't getting paid like Michael [Jordan] and them get paid, and to me as a fan that's always an enjoyable part - that people play for the love of the sport. They play a great game of basketball, plus it ain't often that I walk around in the world and I'm looking girls eye to eye. I'm 6-3 - well, I was 6-3, but I'm getting old - so I don't go through that very often. At WNBA games, that's commonplace.

Mr. Ventura regrets that he won't be able to make Games 1 and 2 in Minnesota because "duty of my career calls and it'll tick me off to no end, but if they go 5, I'll be there."

Catchings, Fowles Headline 2011 All-Defensive Team

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2011 - Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings, the 2011 WNBA MVP, and Sylvia Fowles, the 2011 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, headline the 2011 WNBA All-Defensive Team, the league announced today. Seattle Storm guard Tanisha Wright, Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry (10 points), and Minnesota Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson round out the All-Defensive First Team.

Catchings, who earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010, collected 55 points and was the only player to receive 11 First-Team votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players). Catchings earns her seventh consecutive appearance on the All-Defensive First Team, the only player to be named to the First Team every year it has been selected (2005-2011). Fowles, who received 48 points (nine First-Team votes), led the league in blocks (2.0 bpg) for the second straight year. She also shared the league lead in defensive rebounds (7.3 drpg) and ranked second in overall rebounding (10.2 rpg) and double-doubles (22).

Wright finished with 35 points (seven First-Team votes), McCoughtry with 28 (five), and Brunson with 23 (four).

Catchings, Fowles, McCoughtry and Wright repeated as First Team members. For Brunson, it is her first time earning All-Defensive First Team honors.

The WNBA All-Defensive Second Team is comprised of Dream guard Armintie Price (27 points, three First Team votes), Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles (22, two), Dream forward Sancho Lyttle (20, one), Indiana Fever guard Katie Douglas (19, two), and Seattle Storm forward Swin Cash (16 points, two).

A panel of the WNBA's 12 head coaches voted on the WNBA All-Defensive Team, selecting First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Players earned five points for each First Team vote and three points for a Second Team vote.

Below are the top finishers in the vote for the 2011 WNBA All-Defensive Teams:

2011 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM

Player, Team, Position, Points

Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever, Forward, 55

Rebekkah Brunson, Minnesota Lynx, Forward, 23

Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky, Center, 48

Tanisha Wright, Seattle Storm, Guard, 35

Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta Dream, Guard, 28

2011 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM

Player, Team, Position, Points

Sancho Lyttle, Atlanta Dream, Forward, 20

Swin Cash, Seattle Storm, Forward, 16

Tina Charles, Connecticut Sun, Center, 22

Armintie Price, Atlanta Dream, Guard, 27

Katie Douglas, Indiana Fever, Guard, 19

Fowles Named Defensive Player of the Year

NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2011 - Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles was named the 2011 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced today. Fowles received 19 out of 40 votes, one more than the runner-up, Indiana Fever forward and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Tamika Catchings (18). Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles (2) and Sky guard Epiphanny Prince (1) received the remaining votes.

The WNBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August and a three-time Conference Player of the Week winner, Fowles led the league in blocks (2.0 bpg) for the second straight year. She also shared the league lead in defensive rebounds (7.3 drpg) and ranked second in overall rebounding (10.2 rpg) and double-doubles (22).

Equally adept on the offense, Fowles finished third in the league in scoring (20.0 ppg), becoming only the second player in league annals to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season - Chamique Holdsclaw (20.5 ppg and 10.9 rpg) for Washington in 2003.

With her fifth rebound at Los Angeles Sept. 10, Fowles became the all-time leading rebounder for the Sky, passing Candace Dupree's mark of 980. She finished the 2011 season with 1,000 career rebounds. Her double-double versus Connecticut June 19, gave her 29, the most ever by a Sky player, breaking the team mark set by Candace Dupree (2006-2009); she recorded eight in a row from Aug. 7-28, a WNBA single-season record.

The three-time All-Star recorded her 200th career blocked shot against the Seattle Storm on July 19, which made her the 19th leading shot blocker in WNBA history. Fowles had 10 games of at least three blocks, including a season-high eight July 16, at Atlanta.

In honor of being named the Defensive Player of the Year, Fowles will receive $5,000 and a trophy specially designed by Tiffany & Co.

Below are the complete results of the 2011 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year votes and a list of past recipients:

2011 WNBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Votes, Player, Team

19, Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky

18, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

2, Tina Charles, Connecticut Sun

1, Epiphanny Prince, Chicago Sky

ALL-TIME DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Year, Player, Team

2011, Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky

2010, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

2009, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

2008, Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks

2007, Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm

2006, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

2005, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

2004, Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks

2003, Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets

2002, Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets

2001, Debbie Black, Miami Sol

2000, Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets

1999, Yolanda Griffith, Sacramento Monarchs

1998, Teresa Weatherspoon, New York Liberty

1997, Teresa Weatherspoon, New York Liberty

Dream beat Fever 83-67, advance to finals

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Angel McCoughtry embraced her role as villain, constantly taunting Indiana's fans while carrying her team to the WNBA finals.

The forward scored 26 points, and the Atlanta Dream defeated the Fever 83-67 on Tuesday night to win the Eastern Conference finals series 2-1 and advance to the championship round for the second straight year.

Atlanta will play at Minnesota on Sunday in the opener of the best-of-five series.

McCoughtry was vocal and demonstrative in Game 1 of this series, earning her status as public enemy No. 1 at Conseco Fieldhouse. She was booed loudly during pregame introductions before Game 3 at a venue where WNBA fans rarely respond to anyone that way.

At one point, the animated McCoughtry threw a towel toward the crowd after coach Marynell Meadors took her out of the game.

The drama was just fuel for the superstar who finished second in league scoring during the regular season.

"You get used to it, but you have to use it to motivate you," she said. "It's do or die. What else can you do? You just use it as motivation and pump your team up."

Iziane Castro Marques scored 23 points, Lindsey Harding scored 16 points and Sancho Lyttle added 10 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for the Dream.

Indiana fought valiantly, but couldn't win with a hobbled Tamika Catchings. The league's MVP was limited to 24 minutes because of plantar fasciitis in her right foot.

"We went out there and played hard," Catchings said. "We didn't play as smart as we normally have. We had way too many turnovers and gave up way too many offensive rebounds."

McCoughtry shot 19 free throws - eight more than Indiana's entire team. Fever coach Lin Dunn didn't care for the way the game was called.

"I'm sure I'm going to be fined by the league, but I thought the officiating was horrendous," she said. "If they're going to have 33 free throws, they can have them, but at least give us more than 11. It was a physical game. It was a knock down, drag out game, and for whatever reason it seemed like the officials were all from Atlanta."

Dunn thought the only foul the officials didn't call against Indiana was the one she wanted.

"I don't know why I didn't get a technical, I sure tried," she said.

Indiana enjoyed a similar advantage in free-throw shooting in Game 1, something Dunn thinks the officials noticed.

"I'm sure that after Game 1 with all of the complaining that the coaches from Atlanta did and all of the players whining and everything, maybe it got to the officials, I don't know," she said. "I certainly didn't think that it was fair."

Atlanta won without starting center Erika de Souza, who left to play for Brazil in an Olympics qualifying tournament in Colombia.

Castro Marques, the Brazilian guard who took de Souza's place in the lineup, made 5 of 7 3-pointers on Tuesday. She scored a season-high 30 points when the Dream beat the Fever 94-77 in Game 2 on Sunday to even the series.

Indiana's inability to contain Marques in the final two games was key.

"She's been huge the last two to three weeks," Meadors said. "When Erika went with the Brazilian team, she (Castro Marques) moved into the starting lineup and she never looked back. She played really, really well for us."

Katie Douglas had 16 points and nine rebounds and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 11 points and nine rebounds for top-seeded Indiana.

Catchings had six points, five rebounds and four fouls as a reserve. She said the injury didn't affect her much.

"I think once the adrenaline got going, I was just kind of like, out there going," she said.

Indiana entered the series known for its defense, but Atlanta took control of the game by shutting Indiana down. The Fever shot 10 for 20 from the field in the first quarter, then 11 for 36 in the middle two periods.

"I think we just used our speed and our quickness," Meadors said. "We didn't do a lot of things different. We switched a lot, we trapped a lot. We just mixed it up."

Atlanta led 39-35 at halftime and could have led by more. The Dream made just 7 of 14 free throws in the first half and nearly squandered a nine-point lead in the second quarter.

The Dream started the second half on a 7-0 run that forced two Fever timeouts. Indiana got off few quality shots in that stretch, failing to score for the first 3:54 of the third quarter.

Atlanta continued to roll. Castro Marques hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Dream up 57-39 with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Atlanta led 61-47 at the end of the period.

Atlanta opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 68-49, and the rout was on.

"I'm not going to take anything away from Atlanta and what they did," Catchings said. "I thought they had a good game plan. They all bought into it and they did what they needed to do for this game."

Lynx beat Mercury to reach first WNBA finals

PHOENIX (AP) After helping the Minnesota Lynx reach the WNBA finals for the first time in franchise history, Taj McWilliams-Franklin came up with an analogy to describe the feeling.

The 40-year-old center had a season-high 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the Lynx's 103-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday that completed a two-game sweep in the Western Conference finals.

"It's like you sit down to a great dinner and you eat your dinner," McWilliams-Franklin said. "You feel great but you still want that dessert, and you want it to be the best dessert ever and that's how I feel. I'm satisfied because I am full from that main meal but I'm waiting on that fabulous dessert. The finals is going to be that dessert for me."

Maya Moore had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Minnesota, which needed three games to eliminate San Antonio in the first round before eliminating the Mercury.

The Lynx await the winner of the Indiana-Atlanta series that will be decided on Tuesday night. The WNBA finals begin Oct. 2 in Minneapolis, which had the league's best record in the regular season.

"I think for Taj she's just so smart," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "She plays the angles and knows exactly what's happening. There isn't anything she hasn't seen after all these years."

Reeve, then an assistant, and McWilliams-Franklin were together in Detroit when the Shock won the last of their three championships in 2008.

Diana Taurasi had 22 points for the Mercury, who were swept in the West finals by eventual champion Seattle a year ago. Phoenix was routed by Minnesota in the first game but had a lead well into the third quarter on Sunday.

"We tried to switch things up, but they always had a pretty good counter for it," Taurasi said. "They were well-prepared."

The Mercury tried to run but didn't quite get in gear, according to coach Corey Gaines.

"We tried to up the tempo," he said. "We just missed a little pop. I don't know if we were run down. I don't want to take anything away from them. They ran with us, they played half court with us."

Gaines later added, "They probably will win it. Not putting other teams down but they are tough and have a lot of scorers in every direction."

The Lynx led by just three in the first minute of the fourth quarter but Candice Wiggins hit a pair a free throws and Moore made a 3-pointer, sparking a 15-5 run and Phoenix did not get closer the rest of the way. The Mercury missed eight of their next 11 shots and the Lynx opened up a tight game.

"We had a great sense of urgency," Moore said. "I think that there were a few moments there where we needed to pick it up and we kind of lost our edge because Phoenix had their backs against the wall."

DeWanna Bonner had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Candice Dupree had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Mercury.

Lindsay Whalen had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Seimone Augustus added 16 points for Minnesota, which had been in the postseason twice before - losing in the first round in 2003 and 2004.

Phoenix was in the conference finals for the third straight year and fourth in five years. The Mercury won the WNBA title in 2007 and 2009.

Minnesota had won three of five meetings with Phoenix during the regular season.

The Lynx used a 15-4 run in the first quarter to take a 24-20 lead but Phoenix started the second period on a 9-1 run to regain the lead.

Taurasi had 12 points while Bonner had 10 points and six rebounds to lead the Mercury to a 45-43 lead at the break.

McWilliams-Franklin and Whalen each had 11 points for the Lynx, who made 19 of 37 shots from the field in the first half but just 4 of 9 free throws.

The Lynx opened up a seven-point lead in the third before Taurasi converted a three-point play in the final seconds of the quarter and then hit a leaner 18 seconds into the final period to cut the Lynx lead to 70-67.

Castro Marques has 30, Dream beat Fever 94-77

ATLANTA (AP) Iziane Castro Marques stepped in for fellow Brazilian Erika de Souza and delivered a scoring outburst that extended Atlanta's season.

Castro Marques replaced de Souza in the starting lineup and scored a season-high 30 points as the Dream beat the Indiana Fever 94-77 in Game 2 on Sunday to even the Eastern Conference finals.

Indiana's Tamika Catchings, the WNBA MVP, hurt her right foot late in the game, leaving her status uncertain for Tuesday night's decisive Game 3 in Indianapolis.

Catchings had only eight points, seven below her average, before leaving with 4:54 remaining after she landed on Alison Bales' foot when attempting to defend Bales' shot. Catchings was in obvious distress on the court as she was surrounded by her teammates, who waved to the Atlanta bench for a doctor.

The seven-time All-Star forward was carried off the court by her teammates.

"The good news is it's not her Achilles'," said Indiana coach Lin Dunn, who said she would know more about Catchings' status on Monday.

Catchings had surgery on her right Achilles' in 2007.

Katie Douglas, who made five 3-pointers and led Indiana with 25 points, said she has not given up on Catchings returning for Tuesday night's game.

"I know Catch," Douglas said. "I know if she has to crawl, she will crawl for this team. I don't want to speculate on how we are going to play without her until we know for sure."

Angel McCoughtry had 27 points for Atlanta, which thrived with a small lineup made necessary when de Souza, the starting center, left to play for Brazil in an Olympics qualifying tournament in Colombia.

Castro Marques averaged only 7.6 points in the regular season, never scoring more than 19.

"I was just very focused today," Castro Marques said. "I knew the importance to step into the lineup. Once I made a couple of shots, I kept going. I thought 'This is my night."'

Jessica Davenport had 12 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown scored 11 for the Fever.

Castro Marques said she had the option to join de Souza on Brazil's national team.

"I tried to stay out of her way and let her make her decision," Castro Marques said. "I made mine and I was leaving her to make hers."

Dream coach Marynell Meadors said she had been in talks with the Brazilian team since January. Meadors said the talks included "a lot of threats" from Brazil's team that if de Souza missed the qualifying tournament "it would cause her not to play in the Olympics."

Meadors could have plugged in the 6-foot-7 Bales for de Souza but instead adjusted with a small lineup to emphasize Atlanta's speed. The 6-foot Castro Marques joined the lineup as a third guard with Lindsey Harding and Armintie Price.

"I couldn't ask for anyone to step in and play any better than what Izi did today," Meadors said. "She was the X factor for us that kept us going. She hit tough shots."

The quicker Atlanta lineup took a 25-11 advantage in fast-break points.

Castro Marques had 13 points in the third quarter, filling the scoring void left by the loss of de Souza, who was averaging 12 points and 10.7 rebounds in the playoffs.

Douglas joked that it's not to late for Castro Marques to join de Souza.

"Maybe she should have went with the Brazilian national team, too," Douglas said. "Can we give her a call-up?"

Atlanta never trailed, but Indiana closed to 57-55 early in the second half. The Dream answered with a 12-2 run capped by McCoughtry's three-point play.

The Dream stretched the lead to 85-69, when Bales made a jump shot over Catchings, who took a few steps and then collapsed to the floor.

Tangela Smith, who led Indiana with 25 points in its 82-74 win in Game 1, battled foul problems and had only five points.

McCoughtry, held to 11 points while limited by foul trouble in the opening game, regrouped with 13 points in the first period. McCoughtry had four points in a 10-0 run late in the period to push the Dream's lead to 34-23.

Sancho Lyttle, Armintie Price and Lindsey Harding each had 10 points as each of Atlanta's starters scored in double figures. Harding had seven assists.

Erika de Souza to Miss Remainder of Conference Finals

ATLANTA, September 24, 2011 - Atlanta Dream center Erika de Souza will miss the remainder of the WNBA Eastern Conference Finals, the team announced today.

De Souza, who recorded eight points and 13 rebounds in Game 1 on Thursday, will join the Brazilian national team in Columbia for the 2011 FIBA America Championship for Women. The tournament takes place from September 24 through October 1 and is a qualifier for the 2012 Olympics. It is a single-elimination tournament and de Souza is expected to return to the Dream immediately following play.

The Indiana Fever holds a 1-0 lead over the Dream in the best-of-three conference finals series. Atlanta, the defending Eastern Conference Champions, will host Game 2 on Sunday, September 25 at 3 p.m. Game 3 (if necessary) will be played in Indiana on Tuesday, September 27 at 7 p.m. The 2011 WNBA Finals, a best-of-five series, begin on October 2.

De Souza, a 6-5 center, averaged 11.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks during the regular season. She appeared in 32 games, starting all of them. This year in the playoffs, de Souza is averaging 12.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

With MVP in Hand, Tamika's Quest Continues

When the Top 15 Players in WNBA History were announced at halftime of the 2011 All-Star Game, Tamika Catchings was not pleased.

They didn't pronounce her name wrong. The facts were all correct. It was the facts themselves that she had a problem with.

"As they're announcing all the players, it was so-and-so won four championships, so-and-so won two championships, so-and-so won one championship and Tamika Catchings, two Olympics medals," she said. "It's like, that's great and I'm not discounting the Olympic medals that I've won, but at the same time I want to be in that class of winning a WNBA championship."

On Thursday, she crossed one more accomplishment off that list, taking home the 2011 WNBA Most Valuable Player award at long last. Throughout her 10-year career, Catchings has been a runner-up for the award three times and in finished in the top three five times.

But this year she was the one that got the phone call from league president Laurel Richie with the news that she had won the award.

"When she said 'You've been named the 2011 WNBA MVP,' I was just kind of like 'wow'. I really didn't know what to say," Catchings said. "I was so excited. I kind of had tears in my eyes - and not necessarily because it's something that I really wanted to win, but obviously when you win an award like that it does stand for a lot."

Catchings does anything and everything on the court for the Indiana Fever, who finished the season atop the Eastern Conference with a record of 21-13 and are set to open up the Eastern Conference Finals against the Dream on Thursday night. Catchings led the team in scoring (15.5 ppg), rebounding (7.1), assists (3.5), steals (2.0), minutes played (31.5) and free-throw percentage (a career-best .883). Briann January did average 5.0 assists, but only played 10 games this season due to injury.

"My most valuable player is somebody that impacts the game in every aspect," said Catchings. "I'm not necessarily looking for the player that scores the most points or whatever the case may be, I'm looking for somebody that impacts the game both on the offensive and defensive end."

However, voters did not always see it that way.

Catchings has been recognized as the top defender in the game throughout her career, winning Defensive Player of the Year honors four times, including the past two seasons. But her all-around play never seemed to be able to top the gaudy scoring numbers of others.

"I would never say 'underappreciated' because the fans have always been great and the support they have given me has always been awesome, I just think more so overlooked," she said. "Because the thing has always been 'her shooting percentage isn't up to par' or 'her points per game isn't where it needs to be.' And it's kind of like, that's only on offense. You're looking at one area of the game; you're not even looking at the total game overall."

When you look at the history of the MVP award, the winner has also been the league's leading scorer in seven of the past 14 years and never finished below fourth in scoring average.

Until now.

Catchings' scoring average of 15.5 points ranked 10th in the WNBA this season. And while she may not lead the league in any particular statistical category, no other player ranks as high as she does in as many categories as she does.

In addition to being ranked 10th in scoring, she also finished ninth in rebounding, fourth in steals, 11th in blocks and 13th in assists and is the only player in the WNBA to rank in the top 15 in each category.

Catchings said she appreciates that her style of play has finally been seen by the masses as most valuable and hopes that it changes the standard of what constitutes an MVP.

"In the past, the MVP has been the player that has scores the most points, that's what we've noticed, that's just more so from looking at the box scores and doing it off of that," she said. "With me winning this award, hopefully it will change people's perspective and really truly looking into our game and when you think about an MVP you don't think about whoever scored the most points, you think about the player who has the best overall game, offensively and defensively."

Catchings believes she is playing her best basketball at this point of her career but has yet to hit her peak. She still feels the best is yet to come.

"I still feel like I have a lot of room for improvement and before I shut down I want to make sure that I get everything that I possibly can out of this career," she said.

"I continue to strive to get better every single year and add something different to my game and I believe that's probably why I am so motivated and so passionate about what I do. Because every single year I look at my game and I think I can do better here, I can do better there, I can do this differently. And just knowing that I can continue to get better that's an added incentive every single time I'm out there."

That desire to dominate has faced a number of obstacles over the years. Catchings was actually drafted in 2001, but did not make her debut until the following season after tearing an ACL in her senior season at Tennessee. How did she respond? By putting together an amazing rookie campaign that saw her finish third in MVP voting in 2002.

Then in 2007 came a more severe injury, a torn Achilles' tendon which forced her to miss the remainder of the 2007 season and part of the 2008 campaign.

"When you go through an injury and you come back to playing this game you appreciate it so much more," she said. "For me personally, looking at the things I've been able to come through and overcome, and definitely through my faith and that God has put me in a situation to be an example and to show people to always strive to be the best and to never give up.

"I do stand up and look at this award and think about it like man, we've done a lot. This body has seen some wear and tear and gone through a lot, but through it all I've just keep pushing."

Anyone that knows Catchings knows that what she pushes for most is the elusive WNBA title. The Fever had a shot at the title in 2009, but fell in five games to the Phoenix Mercury.

"I think for Catch, more importantly on the resume would be a WNBA championship," said teammate Katie Douglas. "Individual awards are great, and she deserves it, but if she had to pick between the two she'd definitely pick a WNBA championship."

Whether it was the MVP award or the WNBA title, Catchings has always been a runner-up. Even with the MVP recognition and the ultimate team success just out of the reach of her outstretched fingertips, Catchings says she is not discouraged, but instead, motivated.

"I kind of noted myself as being the Almost Kid - almost get this, almost get that, but it never really happened," she said. "Even with the championship, you know in 2009 you're right there, you almost get it and then bam. For me I think what's so frustrating is how I want to win a championship more than anything.

"Now being named the MVP is great and I'm really excited about it but my mission is still not accomplished. My mission is to win a championship and I believe as a team that is what we are all striving for."

Now, when the Fever open the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Dream at Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday, Catchings will be just five wins away from adding the most important item to her basketball resume.

"I really feel like that would complete everything in every single aspect of basketball," she said. "I've completed everything else. That's the last thing missing now."

Tamika Catchings Named 2011 WNBA MVP

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2011 - Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings has been named the 2011 WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced today. Catchings received 292 points (21 first place votes) from a national panel of 40 sportswriters and broadcasters.

Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles finished second with 209 points (six first-place votes) and Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles finished third with 148 points (six). Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird finished fourth with 106 points (two) and Minnesota Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen finished fifth with 104 points (four).

In her 10th season, all with the Fever, Catchings captured her first MVP Award after finishing among the top three in balloting five times and among the top five in eight different seasons. She was the runner-up in 2003, 2009 and 2010.

This season Catchings led the Fever to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, averaging 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals. The only member of the Fever to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in the same game, Catchings did so three times. She recorded four double-doubles, and grabbed at least 10 rebounds six times during the 2011 campaign. She shot a career-high .883 from the free throw line and converted .438 of her field goal attempts, the second best percentage of her career. Currently the league's all-time career steals leader (775), Catchings, who has been voted WNBA Defensive Player of the Year a league-leading four times, was the top vote-getter in this year's All-Star balloting for the third time in her career.

Throughout her career, the 6-1 forward out of the University of Tennessee has garnered numerous accolades including seven All-Star team selections, two Olympic gold medals and the 2002 WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. Additionally, she was honored as the first recipient of the WNBA's Dawn Staley Leadership Award in 2008, which is presented to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community and reflects Staley's leadership, spirit, charitable efforts and love for the game.

On Aug. 13, in an 82-71 home win versus New York, Catchings tied her career-high of 32 points, making her the sixth player in WNBA history to reach the 5,000-point mark and the first with 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. She is the only player to rank in the league's all-time career top 10 in points (sixth), rebounds (sixth), assists (ninth), and steals (first).

Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

In honor of being named the WNBA Most Valuable Player, Catchings will receive $15,000 and a specially-designed trophy.

Below are the complete results of the 2011 WNBA Most Valuable Player of the Year award votes and a list of past recipients:

2011 WNBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER PRESENTED BY KIA MOTORS RESULTS

Votes, Player, Team

292, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

209, Tina Charles, Connecticut Sun

148, Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky

106, Sue Bird, Seattle Storm

104, Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota Lynx

70, Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta Dream

65, Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury

33, Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx

18, Becky Hammon, San Antonio Silver Stars

10, Penny Taylor, Phoenix Mercury

9, Cappie Pondexter, New York Liberty

5, Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks

1, Rebekkah Brunson, Minnesota Lynx

1, Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx

ALL-TIME WNBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER WINNERS

Year, Player, Team

2011, Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever

2010, Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm

2009, Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury

2008, Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks

2007, Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm

2006, Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks

2005, Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets

2004, Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks

2003, Lauren Jackson, Seattle Storm

2002, Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets

2001, Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks

2000, Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets

1999, Yolanda Griffith, Sacramento Monarchs

1998, Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets

1997, Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets