2018 WNBA Finals

The 2018 WNBA Finals was the best-of-five championship series for the 2018 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It featured the top-seeded Seattle Storm and the three-seeded Washington Mystics. The series began on September 7, 2018, and ended on September 12, 2018. After winning the first two games at home, the Storm went on the road and completed the 3–0 series sweep. It was the franchise's first title in eight years and third overall.

2018 WNBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Seattle Storm Dan Hughes 3 Washington Mystics Mike Thibault 0
Dates	September 7–12
MVP	Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm)
Eastern finals	Washington Mystics defeated Atlanta Dream, 3–2 (Note: the semifinal rounds as of 2016 were not divided by conference)
Western finals	Seattle Storm defeated Phoenix Mercury, 3–2
← 2017 WNBA finals 2019 →

Road to the Finals

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Seattle Storm (1)	26	8	.765	–	13–4	13–4	11–5
2	Phoenix Mercury (5)	20	14	.588	6	9–8	11–6	8–8
3	Los Angeles Sparks (6)	19	15	.559	7	11–6	8–9	9–7
4	Minnesota Lynx (7)	18	16	.529	8	9–8	9–8	9–7
5	Dallas Wings (8)	15	19	.441	11	10–7	5–12	7–9
6	e –Las Vegas Aces	14	20	.412	12	8–9	6–11	4–12

#	Eastern Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Atlanta Dream (2)	23	11	.676	–	13–4	10–7	12–4
2	Washington Mystics (3)	22	12	.647	1	12–5	10–7	12–4
3	Connecticut Sun (4)	21	13	.618	2	13–4	8–9	9–7
4	e – Chicago Sky	13	21	.382	10	7–10	6–11	6–10
5	e – New York Liberty	7	27	.206	16	4–13	3–14	6–10
6	e – Indiana Fever	6	28	.176	17	2–15	4–13	3–13

Notes

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

x – Clinched Playoff Berth

e – Eliminated from playoffs

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 WNBA Playoffs

	First round: Single elimination (Aug. 21)					Second round: Single elimination (Aug. 23)					Semifinals: Best-of-five (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4)									WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12)
											1	Seattle Storm	91	91	66	84	94
						4	Connecticut Sun	86			5	Phoenix Mercury	87	87	86	86	84
	5	Phoenix Mercury	101			5	Phoenix Mercury	96												1	Seattle Storm	89	75	98
	8	Dallas Wings	83																	3	Washington Mystics	76	73	82
											2	Atlanta Dream	84	78	81	76	81
						3	Washington Mystics	96			3	Washington Mystics	87	75	76	97	86
	6	Los Angeles Sparks	75			6	Los Angeles Sparks	64
	7	Minnesota Lynx	68

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Summary

The Mystics' regular home of Capital One Arena was not available during the 2018 postseason due to renovations. The team had played its previous home playoff games at Charles Smith Center on the campus of George Washington University in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood, but that venue would also be unavailable for the Finals due to scheduling issues. The team then moved its home Finals games to EagleBank Arena at George Mason University near Fairfax, Virginia.^[1]

Game 1

In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Jewell Loyd came up big, leading the Storm in points and rebounds. Loyd scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and regular season MVP Breanna Stewart added 20 points in a 13-point Storm win. The Storm went on a 16–4 run during the second quarter and never looked back. Seattle led by as many as 27 in the third quarter.^[2]

ESPNews

September 7 9:00 PM ET

Box Score

Washington Mystics 76, Seattle Storm 89
Scoring by quarter: 13–24, 19–24, 21–29, 23–12
Pts: Atkins (23) Rebs: Delle Donne, Hawkins (7) Asts: Cloud (5)		Pts: Loyd (23) Rebs: Clark, Howard, Loyd (5) Asts: Bird (7)

KeyArena Attendance: 11,486 Referees: Michael Price Eric Brewton Maj Forsberg Cheryl Flores

Game 2

Game 2 of the finals was a back and forth affair. In the first quarter, the Storm started quickly and held a 9-point lead. However, the Mystics came on strong in the second quarter and took a 4-point lead into halftime. The Storm cut the lead to 3 at the end of the third quarter and eventually prevailed in the final period. Seattle was now one win short of its third WNBA title. Since the WNBA Finals went to a best-of-five format in 2005, no team has gone down 0–2 and forced a game five.^[3]

ABC

September 9 3:30 PM ET

Box Score

Washington Mystics 73, Seattle Storm 75
Scoring by quarter: 16–25, 24–11, 21–22, 12–17
Pts: Delle Donne (17) Rebs: Sanders (5) Asts: Toliver (3)		Pts: Stewart (19) Rebs: Howard (11) Asts: Bird (4)

KeyArena Attendance: 14,212 Referees: Kurt Walker Maj Forsberg Billy Smith Cheryl Flores

Game 3

In Game 3, Seattle dominated the first half, particularly in the second quarter. By halftime, the Storm held a 17-point lead. Washington showed life in the third quarter, pulling to within five points, but Seattle quickly responded with an 8–0 run to reclaim control. From there, the Storm put the finishing touches on their third title as Finals MVP Breanna Stewart finished with a series-high 30 points while Sue Bird managed 10 assists. Bird became the only player to have been a member of all three of the Storm's championship teams.

ESPN2

September 12 8 PM ET

Box Score

Seattle Storm 98, Washington Mystics 82
Scoring by quarter: 20–16, 27–14, 21–23, 29–29
Pts: Stewart (30) Rebs: Howard (14) Asts: Bird (10)		Pts: Delle Donne (23) Rebs: Delle Donne (5) Asts: Toliver (5)

EagleBank Arena Attendance: 9,164 Referees: Roy Gulbeya Brenda Pantoja Byron Jarrett Billy Smith

Team rosters

2018 Seattle Storm roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 10 Bird, Sue 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 10-16-1980 Connecticut 15 G 21 Canada, Jordin 5' 6" (1.68m) – 08-11-1995 UCLA R F 32 Clark, Alysha 5' 11" (1.8m) 167 lb (76kg) 07-07-1987 Middle Tennessee 6 F 6 Howard, Natasha 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) 09-02-1991 Florida State 4 F/C 1 Langhorne, Crystal 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 10-27-1986 Maryland 10 G 24 Loyd, Jewell 5' 10" (1.78m) 148 lb (67kg) 10-05-1993 Notre Dame 3 F 23 Mosqueda-Lewis, Kaleena 5' 11" (1.8m) 180 lb (82kg) 11-03-1993 Connecticut 3 C 3 Paris, Courtney 6' 4" (1.93m) 250 lb (113kg) 97-21-1987 Oklahoma 8 G 45 Quinn, Noelle 6' 0" (1.83m) 178 lb (81kg) 01-03-1985 UCLA 11 G 2 Russell, Mercedes 6' 6" (1.98m) – 07-27-1995 Tennessee R F 30 Stewart, Breanna 6' 4" (1.93m) 170 lb (77kg) 08-27-1994 Connecticut 2 G/F 33 Whitcomb, Sami 5' 10" (1.78m) 145 lb (66kg) 07-20-1988 Washington 1	Head coach Dan Hughes (Muskingum) Assistant coaches Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego) Crystal Robinson (SE Oklahoma State) Athletic trainer Tom Spencer (Central Washington) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

2018 Washington Mystics roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 7 Atkins, Ariel 5' 11" (1.8m) 160 lb (73kg) 07-30-1996 Texas R G 15 Cloud, Natasha 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) 02-22-1992 Saint Joseph's 3 F 25 Currie, Monique 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) 02-25-1983 Duke 12 G/F 11 Delle Donne, Elena 6' 5" (1.96m) 187 lb (85kg) 09-05-1989 Delaware 5 F 21 Hawkins, Tianna 6' 3" (1.91m) 193 lb (88kg) 03-02-1991 Maryland 4 F 2 Hines-Allen, Myisha 6' 2" (1.88m) 200 lb (91kg) 05-30-1996 Louisville R G/F 23 Powers, Aerial 6' 0" (1.83m) 157 lb (71kg) 07-17-1994 Michigan State 2 G 14 Ruffin-Pratt, Tierra 5' 11" (1.8m) 180 lb (82kg) 04-11-1991 North Carolina 5 F/C 30 Sanders, LaToya 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 09-11-1986 North Carolina 5 C 34 Thomas, Krystal 6' 5" (1.96m) 210 lb (95kg) 06-10-1989 Duke 6 G 20 Toliver, Kristi 5' 7" (1.7m) 130 lb (59kg) 01-27-1987 Maryland 9 G 32 Walker-Kimbrough, Shatori 5' 11" (1.8m) 142 lb (64kg) 05-18-1995 Maryland 1	Head coach Mike Thibault (St. Martin's) Assistant coaches Marianne Stanley (Immaculata) Eric Thibault (Missouri) Athletic trainer Chalisa Fonza (Western Illinois) Strength and conditioning coach Vacant Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

References

1. "Mystics Advance to the WNBA Finals for the First Time in Franchise History". Washington Mystics. September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
2. Booth, Tim (September 7, 2018). "Jewell Loyd scores 23, Storm beat Mystics 89–76 in Game 1". wnba.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
3. Booth, Tim (September 9, 2018). "Stewart, Storm beat Mystics 75–73 for 2–0 series lead". wnba.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2018.

External links

• WNBA Playoffs Home