Latest news with #Commissioner'sCupMVP
USA Today
02-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Minus Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever win WNBA Commissioner's Cup
The Indiana Fever played one of their biggest games of the season on Tuesday without their biggest star. And it didn't matter. Indiana toppled the Minnesota Lynx, 74-59, to capture the franchise's first-ever WNBA Commissioner's Cup title. Playing without star point guard Caitlin Clark for the third game in a row, the Fever fell behind by by 13 points early in the second quarter and it looked bleak. Then, everything changed. Trailing 27-14 with eight minutes left to play in the second quarter, the Fever went on one of their best runs of the entire season. They would end the quarter on an 18-0 run, taking a 32-27 lead into the half. And from there, Indiana didn't look back. The Fever would outscore the Lynx in both the third and fourth quarters to cruise to the victory and the 2025 Commissioner's Cup. It's an impressive win that took strong performances from the entire team to attain. The Fever saw five players score in double figures in the win, including Natasha Howard who won Commissioner's Cup MVP. Here are the top performances for the Fever in the win: Without Clark, the Fever got all-around great performances from the entire team in the victory and should gain a huge confidence boost in the process. With Clark back at practice, it shouldn't be long before the Fever get their star back and go on a run. They'll have a chance to build on the momentum from Tuesday's win when they lost the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on Prime Video. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hiney
New York Post
02-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
ESPN ripped for awful YouTube blunder before Fever 's Commissioner's Cup win
Oops. A bold pregame graphic from ESPN's YouTube channel turned heads Tuesday night after allegedly teasing a headline that read, 'Lynx dominate Fever,' ahead of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Final, as captured on social media. But the script flipped as the Fever convincingly beat the Minnesota Lynx, 74–59, to take home the title. And they did so despite the absence of Caitlin Clark, whose injury-plagued season sidelined her once more. The internet didn't forget, either, as seen in a post from former Big3 sideline reporter Rachel DeMita. 3 The ESPN caption on YouTube. @RADeMita/X 'What tf are you doing ESPN????' she posted to X. The Fever surged in the second half, outscoring the Lynx, 42–25, over the final two quarters. Indiana trailed, 20-12, after the first quarter before outpacing Minnesota, 62-39, for the rest of the contest. Natasha Howard led the way for Indiana with a dominant two-way performance, finishing with 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals to earn Commissioner's Cup MVP honors. 3 Natasha Howard won Commissioner Cup MVP. NBAE via Getty Images Aaliyah Boston, Aari McDonald and Kelsey Mitchell all contributed 12 points each in the win. Boston also added 11 rebounds and six assists. 3 Natasha Howard works around Jessica Shepard of the Minnesota Lynx during the second quarter of the championship game of the 2025 Commissioners Cup at Target Center on July 1, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Getty Images Minnesota, meanwhile, struggled offensively. Napheesa Collier was held to 12 points on 6-for-18 shooting, and the Lynx shot just 34.9 percent as a team. Turnovers (16) and poor transition defense proved costly, as did their 3-point shooting, landing at just 25 percent (4 of 16). Alanna Smith paced the effort with 15 points, and Courtney Williams added 11 but also had six turnovers. The game marked Indiana's first Commissioner's Cup victory in what has otherwise been an uneasy season. The Fever are just 8-8 while dealing with Clark missing seven regular-season games plus Tuesday night's tilt.
New York Post
02-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Caitlin Clark, Fever stars give inside look at champagne celebrations after Commissioners Cup win
The Indiana Fever popped champagne, crushed vodka seltzers and chugged from the Commissioner's Cup trophy after a comeback win over the Lynx to win the league's in-season championship Tuesday. Fever All-Star guard Caitlin Clark, who missed her third straight game due to a groin injury, held the cup while teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Sydney Colson drank from it, as seen in videos on social media following Indiana's 74-59 win over the first-place Lynx. Advertisement The visitors' locker room in Minneapolis was covered in clear tarp for the celebration, which included buckets of champagne bottles and Nütrl vodka seltzers. The Fever bounced back after being down 20-12 in the first quarter, and outscored the Lynx 20-7 in a strong second-quarter showing. 3 The Fever popped champagne, crushed vodka seltzers and chugged from the Commissioner's Cup trophy after a comeback win over the Lynx to win the league's in-season championship on July 1, 2025. Instagram/Caitlin Clark Advertisement Fever forward Natasha Howard scored a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds en route to being named the 2025 Commissioner's Cup MVP. Howard's defensive prowess held Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier — the WNBA's leading scorer at 24.4 points per game — to 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting. 3 The Indiana Fever celebrated in the locker room after defeating the Lynx on the road in Minnesota to win the Commissioner's Cup trophy for the first time in franchise history on July 1, 2025. Instagram/Lexie Hull Advertisement Minnesota won the Commissioner's Cup last year, defeating the Liberty in New York. The Aces won it in 2022 and then claimed the WNBA title later that year, while the Liberty emerged victorious in 2023 and grabbed the title last season. However, each of the last two runner-ups (Aces, Liberty) won the championship. Advertisement 3 The Fever popped champagne, crushed vodka seltzers and chugged from the Commissioner's Cup trophy after a comeback win over the Lynx to win the league's in-season championship on Tuesday. Instagram The Fever (8-8) and the Lynx (14-2) aren't scheduled to play each other in the regular season, but they could meet again in the playoffs.
UPI
02-07-2025
- Sport
- UPI
Fever, minus Caitlin Clark, beat Lynx for Commissioner's Cup crown
July 2 (UPI) -- The Indiana Fever overcame the absence of injured star guard Caitlin Clark, using disruptive defense to upset the first-place Minnesota Lynx en route to the Commissioner's Cup title in Minneapolis. Natasha Howard totaled 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the 74-59 victory Tuesday at Target Center. She also played key defense on NBA MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier, who made just 6 of 18 shots for 12 points, less than half of her season average. "I knew I had a handful with Collier," Howard, who earned Commissioner's Cup MVP honors, told reporters. "She's a great player. But my thing was just limit her to hard shots. "That's what I did. ... But I couldn't do it by myself." The Fever outshot the Lynx 42.9% to 34.9%, including a 42.1% to 25% advantage in 3-point shooting. They also held a 40-30 edge in rebounding. "I think we were just a little bit more disruptive," Fever coach Stephanie White said. "We were in passing lanes. We didn't allow him to just pass the ball one pass away. We made their movement a little more difficult because of our positioning ... I would prefer to say our intensity was a little bit better. "Our intention to detail was a little bit better." Sophie Cunningham chipped in 13 points and made three 3-pointers off the Fever bench. Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Aari McDonald scored a dozen points apiece in the win. "I think you've seen this group grow," White said. "Caitlin is a player who has a high usage rate, has the ball in her hands a lot. Learning to play without her, learning to make big plays in tough moments on both ends of the floor is important because that's going to pay dividends down the stretch of the season for us." The Lynx made 9 of 15 shots through the first 10 minutes, used a 12-0 run to take control in the first quarter and carried a 20-12 advantage into the second. But they fell apart over the next 10 minutes, lost their lead and never recovered. The Fever outscored the Lynx 20-7 in the second quarter and went on an 18-0 run to end the half. The Lynx made just 3 of 14 shots in the frame, which included a run of 10-consecutive missed attempts. They failed to score for the final eight minutes of the first half. That trend continued in the third quarter, as Howard helped the Fever pour it on. The Fever outscored their foes 20-15 in the frame and also held a 22-17 scoring advantage over the final 10 minutes. The Fever, who made 11 of 36 attempts (30.5%) in the first half, were 16 of 27 (59.2%) in the second. The Lynx made just 13 of their final 48 shots (27%). Collier, who made 3 of 4 shots in the first quarter, was 0 for 5 in the second. She was 3 for 9 in the second half. Alanna Smith led the Lynx with 15 points in the loss. "We have a tendency sometimes to get impatient," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "I didn't think that our commitment to moving the basketball and creating advantages, we had a hard time getting that done. We had some easy shots that didn't fall, as did they, particularly early in the game. "They kinda got their rhythm going, but we sort of lost ours. ... Give them credit. I could watch the video back, but I would imagine that they just sort of beat us to spots." Fever players earned a $500,000 prize pool, in addition to $120,000 in cryptocurrency, for the victory. The Fever, who played without Clark for the third-consecutive game as she recovers from a groin injury, went 2-1 during that stretch. They are 4-4 overall this season without Clark, who also missed five games earlier this year due to a quad issue. White said the Fever have "no sense in rushing anything," when talking about Clark before Tuesday's game. The All-Star guard remains day-to-day. The Fever (8-8) sit in 8th place in the WNBA standings. They will host the 7th-place Las Vegas Aces (8-8) at 7 p.m. EDT Thursday in Indianapolis. The first-place Lynx will (14-2) will host the 9th-place Washington Mystics (8-9) at 8 p.m. Thursday in Minneapolis.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Top WNBA Team Suffers Major Blow on Tuesday
Top WNBA Team Suffers Major Blow on Tuesday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It was a busy night in the WNBA on Tuesday as 12 out of the 13 teams in the league were in action. One of the biggest games of the evening came in the form of the Minnesota Lynx hosting the Las Vegas Aces at Target Center in a pivotal Commissioner's Cup matchup. Advertisement In the end, it was the Lynx who secured a crucial win of 76-62 which saw them clinch the No. 1 spot in the West for the Commissioner's Cup. This means that Minnesota is now headed to the championship game on July 1. They will defend their title against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, who clinched their spot in the Final with an 88-71 win over the Connecticut Sun. The bad news for the Lynx is that they lost their best player in Tuesday's game. This is after Napheesa Collier was forced to exit the contest in the third quarter due to a back issue. Minnesota later announced that Collier would not be able to return to the game due to the injury. She finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, six rebounds and one assist in 19 minutes of action. Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24)© Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images The details of Collier's injury have not yet been revealed, and it remains to be seen if the four-time All-Star will be forced to miss time because of this problem. Advertisement The Lynx should provide an update on their star forward's injury soon, but until then, Collier's status for Minnesota's home game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday will be up in the air. Collier has been the backbone of the Lynx's success this season. The reigning Commissioner's Cup MVP entered Tuesday's win averaging 26.1 points on 53.3% shooting, 8.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.6 blocks and 1.6 triples per game. Minnesota currently occupies the No. 1 spot in the WNBA with an 11-1 record, and they would not be where they are right now had it not been for Collier's dominant play. Related: Minnesota Lynx Make Important Napheesa Collier Announcement on Sunday Related: Former Chicago Sky Star Leaves No Doubt on Her Opinion of Caitlin Clark This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
