2015 WNBA season

2015 WNBA season
Duration	June 5 – October 14
Games	204 (regular season) 21 (postseason)
Teams	12
Total attendance	1,465,432
Average attendance	7,183
TV partner/s	ESPN on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, NBA TV
Draft
Top draft pick	Jewell Loyd
Picked by	Seattle Storm
Regular season
Season MVP	Elena Delle Donne (Chicago)
Stat leaders
Points	E. Delle Donne (23.4)
Rebounds	C. Paris (9.3)
Assists	C. Vandersloot (5.8)
Playoffs
East champions	Indiana Fever
East runners-up	New York Liberty
West champions	Minnesota Lynx
West runners-up	Phoenix Mercury
Finals
Finals champions	Minnesota Lynx
Runners-up	Indiana Fever
Finals MVP	Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota)
WNBA seasons
← 2014	2016 →

The 2015 WNBA season was the 19th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season started on June 5 and playoffs concluded on October 14.^[1]

Minnesota Lynx beat Indiana Fever 69-52 in game five on 14 October to clinch a third WNBA title in five years.^[2][3][4][5]

TV and Internet coverage

Games will air on ESPN (1 regular season game), ESPN2 (10 regular season games), ABC (All-Star Game) and NBA TV (47 regular season games).

Notable occurrences

• On February 3, 2015, the Phoenix Mercury announced that superstar Diana Taurasi would not play in 2015. Her Russian club team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, offered her more than her WNBA season salary to rest during the 2015 WNBA season. Some in the league feared this would cause more star players to reach similar agreements.^[6]

• On June 4, 2015, Tulsa player Glory Johnson announced that she is pregnant and will miss all of the 2015 WNBA season.

• On July 23, 2015, The WNBA approved the relocation of the Tulsa Shock to Dallas-Fort Worth. The move is the first franchise relocation or fold since the 2009 Sacramento Monarchs folded, and the Detroit Shock moved to Tulsa. The Shock are the only WNBA franchise to relocate twice.

• On October 14, 2015, The Minnesota Lynx won their 3rd WNBA Title in 5 years, beating the Indiana Fever 3-2.

• On November 4, 2015, shortly after the 2015 season concluded, WNBA President Laurel Richie announced her resignation, effective November 9, 2015. She was the league's 3rd president.

2015 WNBA draft

On August 21, 2014, the 2015 WNBA Draft Lottery took place. The Seattle Storm, who had a league-worst record of 12-22 last season, won the draft lottery and had the right to pick first in the 2015 draft. In the draft, held on April 16, the Storm made Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame the top pick.

Team standings

Source: ^[7]

Eastern Conference

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
z - New York Liberty	23	11	.676	–	12–5	11–6	13–9
x - Chicago Sky	21	13	.618	2	13–4	8–9	14–8
x - Indiana Fever	20	14	.588	3	11–6	9–8	13–9
x - Washington Mystics	18	16	.529	5	11–6	7–10	10–12
e - Atlanta Dream	15	19	.441	8	9–8	6–11	10–12
e - Connecticut Sun	15	19	.441	8	8–9	7–10	6–16

Western Conference

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
z - Minnesota Lynx	22	12	.647	–	13–4	9–8	16–6
x - Phoenix Mercury	20	14	.588	2	13–4	7–10	15–7
x - Tulsa Shock	18	16	.529	4	12–5	6–11	11–11
x - Los Angeles Sparks	14	20	.412	8	9–8	5–12	10–12
e - Seattle Storm	10	24	.294	12	8–9	2–15	8–14
e - San Antonio Stars	8	26	.235	14	7–10	1–16	6–16

Notes

z – Clinched Conference

x – Clinched playoff spot

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Playoffs

Conference Semi-Finals: Best-of-3

Conference Finals: Best-of-3

WNBA Finals: Best-of-5

E1

New York

2

E4

Washington

1

E1

New York

1

Eastern Conference

E3

Indiana

2

E2

Chicago

1

E3

Indiana

2

E3

Indiana

2

W1

Minnesota

3

W1

Minnesota

2

W4

Los Angeles

1

W1

Minnesota

2

Western Conference

W2

Phoenix

0

W2

Phoenix

2

W3

Tulsa

0

Bold Series winner
italics Team with home-court advantage

Season award winners

Player of the Week award

Player of the Month award

Rookie of the Month award

Postseason awards

Award	Winner	Position	Team	Votes/Statistic
Most Valuable Player Award	Elena Delle Donne	Forward / Guard	Chicago Sky	385 out of 999
Finals MVP Award	Sylvia Fowles	Center	Minnesota Lynx
Rookie of the Year Award	Jewell Loyd	Guard	Seattle Storm	21 out of 39
Most Improved Player Award	Kelsey Bone	Center	Connecticut Sun	14 out of 39
Defensive Player of the Year Award	Brittney Griner	Center	Phoenix Mercury	33 out of 39
Sixth Woman of the Year Award	Allie Quigley	Guard	Chicago Sky	24 out of 39
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award	DeLisha Milton-Jones	Forward	Atlanta Dream	11 out of 39
Peak Performer: Points	Elena Delle Donne	Forward / Guard	Chicago Sky	23.4 PPG
Peak Performer: Rebounds	Courtney Paris	Center	Tulsa Shock	9.3 RPG
Peak Performer: Assists	Courtney Vandersloot	Guard	Chicago Sky	5.8 APG
Coach of the Year Award	Bill Laimbeer	Coach	New York Liberty	23 out of 39

Team	Guard	Guard	Forward	Forward	Center
All-WNBA First Team	DeWanna Bonner	Angel McCoughtry	Elena Delle Donne	Maya Moore	Tina Charles
All-WNBA Second Team	Epiphanny Prince	Courtney Vandersloot	Candace Parker	Tamika Catchings	Brittney Griner
All-Defensive First Team	Briann January	Angel McCoughtry	Nneka Ogwumike	Tamika Catchings	Brittney Griner
All-Defensive Second Team	Tanisha Wright	DeWanna Bonner	Sancho Lyttle	Tina Charles	Kiah Stokes
All-Rookie Team	Jewell Loyd Ana Dabović	Brittany Boyd	Ramu Tokashiki	Natalie Achonwa	Kiah Stokes

References

1. WNBA Announces ESPN Schedule - Hartford Courant
2. "Minnesota Lynx capture third title in five years win in crucial Game 5". Fox Sports. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
3. "Everything comes together at right time for WNBA champion Lynx". ESPN. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
4. "Lynx capture 3rd title in 5 years with 69-52 win over Fever in Game 5". Chicago Tribune. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
5. "Big Crowd and Defense Spur Lynx to Another Title". New York Times. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
6. A Russian team paid Diana Taurasi to sit out 2015 WNBA season | SB Nation
7. http://www.wnba.com/standings/#?season=2015

External links

• 2015 WNBA Schedule and Results - Women's National Basketball Association - ESPN
• Official Site