2012 WNBA season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2012 WNBA season was the 16th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 18 and concluded on September 23 and playoffs started on September 27 and concluded on October 21.[1]
| 2012 WNBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | May 18 – October 21, 2012 |
| Games | 34 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Total attendance | 1,520,112 |
| Average attendance | 7,452 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC, ESPN, NBA TV |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick |  Nneka Ogwumike |
| Picked by | Los Angeles Sparks |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | Minnesota Lynx |
| Season MVP | Tina Charles (Connecticut) |
| Top scorer | Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta) |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | Indiana Fever |
| Runners-up | Minnesota Lynx |
| Finals MVP | Tamika Catchings (Indiana) |
2011–2012 WNBA offseason
- The new television deal with ESPN continued during the 2012 season (runs 2009–2016). For the first time ever, teams will be paid rights fees as part of this deal.
- On January 3, 2012, the Tulsa Shock named former Indiana assistant coach Gary Kloppenburg head coach.
- On January 5, 2012, the Los Angeles Sparks named former Atlanta assistant coach Carol Ross head coach.
- The Seattle Storm trade three time WNBA champion Swin Cash to the Chicago Sky.
- The New York Liberty played home games for the next two seasons at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, due to summer renovations at Madison Square Garden.
Draft
The WNBA Draft lottery was held on November 10, 2011. The lottery teams were the Tulsa Shock, Minnesota Lynx (from Wash.), Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks. The top pick was awarded to Los Angeles.
The 2012 WNBA Draft was held on April 16, 2012, in Bristol, Connecticut. Coverage of the first round was shown on ESPN (HD). Second and third round coverage was shown on ESPNU and NBA TV.
Regular season
Due to the 2012 Summer Olympics, there was no All-Star Game this season as the Olympiad caused a break from mid-July through August.[2]
Standings
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut Sun y | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 12–5 | 13–4 | 18–4 |
| Indiana Fever x | 22 | 12 | .647 | 3.0 | 13–4 | 9–8 | 15–7 |
| Atlanta Dream x | 19 | 15 | .559 | 6.0 | 11–6 | 8–9 | 12–10 |
| New York Liberty x | 15 | 19 | .441 | 10.0 | 9–8 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| Chicago Sky o | 14 | 20 | .412 | 11.0 | 7–10 | 7–10 | 8–14 |
| Washington Mystics o | 5 | 29 | .147 | 20.0 | 4–13 | 1–16 | 3–19 |
| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Lynx z | 27 | 7 | .794 | – | 16–1 | 11–6 | 17–5 |
| Los Angeles Sparks x | 24 | 10 | .706 | 3.0 | 16–1 | 8–9 | 15–7 |
| San Antonio Silver Stars x | 21 | 13 | .618 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 9–8 | 14–8 |
| Seattle Storm x | 16 | 18 | .471 | 11.0 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 11–11 |
| Tulsa Shock o | 9 | 25 | .265 | 18.0 | 6–11 | 3–14 | 5–17 |
| Phoenix Mercury o | 7 | 27 | .206 | 20.0 | 3–14 | 4–13 | 4–18 |
Playoffs
| Conference semifinals Best-of-3 | Conference finals Best-of-3 | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Connecticut | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E4 | New York | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Connecticut | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| E2 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Indiana | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Atlanta | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Indiana | 3 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W4 | Seattle | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Minnesota | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Los Angeles | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | San Antonio | 0 | ||||||||||||
- Bold – Series winner
- Italic – Team with home-court advantage
Awards
Reference:[3]
Individual
| Award | Winner | Team | Position | Votes/Statistic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player (MVP) | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Center | 25 out of 41[4] | |
| Finals MVP | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Forward | ||
| Rookie of the Year | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks | Forward | Unanimous | |
| Most Improved Player | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks | Guard | 24 out of 41 | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Forward | 19 out of 41 | |
| Sixth Woman of the Year | Renee Montgomery | Connecticut Sun | Guard | 23 out of 41 | |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | Kara Lawson | Connecticut Sun | Guard | 18 out of 41 | |
| Peak Performers | Scoring | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Guard/Forward | 21.4 PPG |
| Rebounding | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Center | 10.5 RPG | |
| Assists | Lindsay Whalen | Minnesota Lynx | Guard | 5.4 APG | |
| Coach of the Year | Carol Ross | Los Angeles Sparks | Coach | 15 out of 41 | |
Team
| Award | Guard | Guard | Forward | Forward | Center | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-WNBA | First Team | Cappie Pondexter | Seimone Augustus | Candace Parker | Tamika Catchings | Tina Charles |
| Second Team | Kristi Toliver | Lindsay Whalen | Maya Moore | Sophia Young | Sylvia Fowles | |
| All-Defensive | First Team | Briann January | Alana Beard | Tamika Catchings | Sancho Lyttle | Sylvia Fowles |
| Second Team | Danielle Robinson | Armintie Price | Sophia Young | Candace Parker | Tina Charles | |
| All-Rookie Team | Samantha Prahalis | Riquna Williams | Tiffany Hayes | Nneka Ogwumike | Glory Johnson | |
Players of the Week
| Week ending | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | |
| May 27 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June 3 | Epiphanny Prince (2) | Chicago Sky | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| June 10 | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks | ||
| June 17 | Tina Charles | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker (3) | |
| June 24 | Tamika Catchings (2) | Indiana Fever | ||
| July 1 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Sophia Young | San Antonio Silver Stars |
| July 8 | Tina Charles (3) | Connecticut Sun | Becky Hammon | |
| July 15 | Candace Parker (4) | Los Angeles Sparks | ||
| August 20 | Tamika Catchings (3) | Indiana Fever | Maya Moore | Minnesota Lynx |
| August 26 | Sancho Lyttle | Atlanta Dream | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September 2 | Tamika Catchings (4) | Indiana Fever | DeWanna Bonner (2) | Phoenix Mercury |
| September 9 | Lindsey Harding | Atlanta Dream | Maya Moore (2) | Minnesota Lynx |
| September 16 | Cappie Pondexter | New York Liberty | Nneka Ogwumike (2) | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September 23 | Tina Charles (4) | Connecticut Sun | Candace Parker (5) | |
Players of the Month
| Month | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | |
| May | Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky | Candace Parker (3) | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June | Tina Charles (2) | Connecticut Sun | ||
| July | ||||
| August | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Kristi Toliver | Los Angeles Sparks |
| September | Cappie Pondexter | New York Liberty | Candace Parker (4) | Los Angeles Sparks |
Rookies of the Month
| Month | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| May | Nneka Ogwumike | Los Angeles Sparks |
| June | Samantha Prahalis | Phoenix Mercury |
| July | Nneka Ogwumike (4) | Los Angeles Sparks |
| August | ||
| September |