2014 WNBA Finals

2014 WNBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Phoenix Mercury Sandy Brondello 3 Chicago Sky Pokey Chatman 0
Dates:	September 7–12
MVP:	Diana Taurasi (Phoenix)
Television:	U.S.: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 (HD)
Announcers:	Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo
Referees:
Game 1: Amy Bonner, Roy Gulbeyan, Lamont Simpson
Game 2: Sue Blauch, Eric Brewton, Kurt Walker
Game 3: Denise Brooks, Michael Price, Maj Forsberg
East Finals:	Chicago defeated Indiana, 2-1
West Finals:	Phoenix defeated Minnesota, 2–1
WNBA Finals ← 2013 2015 →

The 2014 WNBA Finals was the playoff series for the 2014 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the conclusion of the season's playoffs.^[1] The Phoenix Mercury, champions of the Western Conference, faced the Chicago Sky, champions of the Eastern Conference.

The WNBA Finals were under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Mercury held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (29–5) than the Sky (15–19). The Mercury swept the Sky in three games to win their third title in franchise history.

Background

2014 WNBA Regular Season

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	y- Atlanta Dream	19	15	.559	-	34
2	x- Indiana Fever	16	18	.471	3.0	34
3	x-Washington Mystics	16	18	.471	3.0	34
4	x-Chicago Sky	15	19	.441	4.0	34
5	e-New York Liberty	15	19	.441	4.0	34
6	e-Connecticut Sun	13	21	.382	6.0	34

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	y-Phoenix Mercury	29	5	.853	-	34
2	x-Minnesota Lynx	25	9	.735	4.0	34
3	x-San Antonio Stars	16	18	.471	13.0	34
4	x-Los Angeles Sparks	16	18	.471	13.0	34
5	e-Tulsa Shock	12	22	.353	17.0	34
6	e-Seattle Storm	12	22	.353	17.0	34

2014 WNBA Playoffs

Phoenix Mercury		Chicago Sky
29–5 (.853) 1st West, 1st overall	Seeding		15–19 (.441) 4th East, 8th overall
Defeated the (4) Los Angeles Sparks, 2–0	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (1) Atlanta Dream, 2–1
Defeated the (2) Minnesota Lynx, 2–1	Conference Finals		Defeated the (2) Indiana Fever, 2–1

Chicago Sky

The Chicago Sky finished 15–19, good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The Sky defeated the Atlanta Dream in three games, setting up a conference final against the Indiana Fever. Chicago lost the first game of the series, but rallied to win two straight to reach the finals for the first time in franchise history.

Phoenix Mercury

The Phoenix Mercury finished with the best record in the WNBA, finishing with a 29–5 record. The Mercury swept the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Sparks in the conference semifinals, and defeated the Minnesota Lynx in the Western Conference Finals in three games.

Regular-season series

The Phoenix Mercury won the season series 2–0:

July 2, 2014

Report

Chicago Sky 69, Phoenix Mercury 87

US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ

July 11, 2014

Report

Phoenix Mercury 72, Chicago Sky 66

Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL

Series summary

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

Game 1

ABC

September 7 3:30pm ET

Report

Chicago Sky 62, Phoenix Mercury 83
Scoring by quarter: 8–15, 12–27, 14–14, 28–27
Pts: Fowles (19) Rebs: Fowles (11) Asts: Vandersloot (5)		Pts: Dupree (26) Rebs: Griner (7) Asts: Taurasi (11)
Phoenix leads series, 1–0

US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 13,263 Referees: #31 Amy Bonner #38 Lamont Simpson #42 Roy Gulbeyan

Game 2

ESPN

September 9 9:00pm ET

Report

Chicago Sky 68, Phoenix Mercury 97
Scoring by quarter: 14–21, 22–30, 15–23, 17–23
Pts: Delle Donne (22) Rebs: Fowles (5) Asts: Vandersloot (4)		Pts: Griner (19) Rebs: Taylor (8) Asts: Taylor (6)
Phoenix leads series, 2–0

US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ Attendance: 13,348 Referees: #4 Sue Blauch #18 Kurt Walker #55 Eric Brewton

Game 3

ESPN2

September 12 8:00pm ET

Report

Phoenix Mercury 87, Chicago Sky 82
Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 23–21, 16–20, 26–19
Pts: Dupree, Taurasi (24) Rebs: Bonner (9) Asts: Dupree (6)		Pts: Delle Donne (23) Rebs: Fowles (8) Asts: Vandersloot (11)
Phoenix wins series, 3–0

UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL Attendance: 7,365 Referees: #9 Denise Brooks #34 Maj Forsberg #39 Michael Price

Rosters

Phoenix Mercury roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From F 8 Bass, Mistie 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 12-02-1983 Duke G 23 Bias, Tiffany 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 133 lb (60 kg) 05-22-1992 Oklahoma State G/F 24 Bonner, DeWanna 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 143 lb (65 kg) 08-21-1987 Auburn F 4 Dupree, Candice 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 08-16-1984 Temple C 42 Griner, Brittney 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 10-18-1990 Baylor G 10 Jēkabsone-Žogota, Anete 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 167 lb (76 kg) 08-12-1983 Latvia C 11 Kobryn, Ewelina 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 05-07-1982 Poland G 14 Murphy, Eshaya 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 164 lb (74 kg) 04-15-1985 Southern California G 31 Phillips, Erin 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 05-19-1985 Australia G 3 Taurasi, Diana 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 163 lb (74 kg) 06-11-1982 Connecticut F 13 Taylor, Penny 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 05-24-1981 Australia	Head coach Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney) Assistant coaches Julie Hairgrove (Arizona) Todd Troxel (Doane) Athletic trainer Tamara Poole (Cal State-DH) Strength and conditioning coach Pro Advantage Training Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Chicago Sky roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From F 25 Brandon, Gennifer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 164 lb (74 kg) 11-23-1990 California F 51 Breland, Jessica 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 02-23-1988 North Carolina G 0 Clements, Courtney 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 157 lb (71 kg) 11-12-1989 San Diego State G/F 11 Delle Donne, Elena 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 09-05-1989 Delaware G 21 Faulkner, Jamierra 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 141 lb (64 kg) 03-09-1992 Southern Mississippi C 34 Fowles, Sylvia 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 10-06-1985 LSU C 9 Gatling, Markeisha 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 07-14-1992 North Carolina State C 45 Goodlett, Sasha 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 239 lb (108 kg) 08-09-1990 Georgia Tech G 10 Prince, Epiphanny 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 164 lb (74 kg) 01-11-1988 Rutgers G 14 Quigley, Allie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 140 lb (64 kg) 06-20-1986 DePaul G 22 Vandersloot, Courtney 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 132 lb (60 kg) 02-08-1989 Gonzaga F 1 Young, Tamera 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 10-30-1986 James Madison	Head coach Pokey Chatman (LSU) Assistant coaches Tree Rollins (Clemson) Christie Sides (Louisiana Tech) Athletic trainer Christie Sides (Louisiana Tech) Strength and conditioning coach Ann Crosby (Western Michigan) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

References

1. 2014 WNBA playoff schedule - ESPN