2025 Minnesota Lynx season
WNBA team season
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The 2025 Minnesota Lynx season was the 27th season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the sixteenth season under head coach Cheryl Reeve.
| 2025 Minnesota Lynx season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Cheryl Reeve |
| Arena | Target Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 34–10 (.773) |
| Place | 1st (Western) |
| Playoff finish | 1st seed Lost in Semifinals 1–3 to Phoenix Mercury |
| Media | |
| Television | Bally Sports North ESPN CBS Sports Network ION Amazon Prime Video |
The season tipped-off on Friday, May 16, 2025, in Dallas against the Wings.[1] Entering as the defending Commissioner's Cup champions, Minnesota advanced to the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup championship game for the second straight year after leading the Western Conference with a 5–1 record. However, they lost that game to the Indiana Fever.
The Lynx went under a few changes in the offseason following the 2024 season. General Manager Clare Duwelius left to become the Executive Vice President and General Manager, for the new women's 3x3 basketball league Unrivaled.[2] Forward Cecilia Zandalasini was selected in the Golden State Valkyries expansion draft.[3] After coming over to Minnesota in a trade at the end of the season, Myisha Hines-Allen signed with the Dallas Wings in February 2025.[4] Assistant Coach Katie Smith left to take an assistant position at her alma mater Ohio State, which allowed the Lynx to hire Eric Thibault and Lindsay Whalen to their staff.[5][6]
Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Club | Outcome | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 15 | Anastasiia Kosu | F |  Russia |
UMMC Ekaterinburg | Signed rookie contract on April 19 Made opening day roster |
[7][8] |
| 2 | 24 | Dalayah Daniels |  United States |
Washington | Signed rookie contract on April 19 Waived on May 7 |
[7][9] | |
| 3 | 37 | Aubrey Griffin | G/F | UConn | Rights retained |
Transactions
Front office and coaching
| Date | Details | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| November 11, 2024 | Associate head coach, Katie Smith, and General Manager, Clare Duwelius, left Lynx organization | [10] |
| November 30, 2024 | Hired Lindsay Whalen as an assistant coach and Eric Thibault as associate head coach | [11] |
| June 23, 2025 | Glen and Becky Taylor announced their departure from the ownership group of the Minnesota Lynx and the Minnesota Timberwolves | [12] |
| Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez became the new majority owners of the Lynx and Timberwolves | [13] |
Trades
| April | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| April 13 | To Minnesota Lynx Outright 2026 first-round draft pick Extinguished previous right to exchange 2026 first round draft picks with Chicago |
To Chicago Sky 2025 No. 11 draft pick |
[14] |
| April 14 | To Minnesota Lynx Karlie Samuelson |
To Washington Mystics 2026 first round pick (Minnesota’s own) |
[15] |
| August | |||
| August 3 | To Minnesota Lynx DiJonai Carrington |
To Dallas Wings Diamond Miller Karlie Samuelson 2027 second round pick (Minnesota’s own) |
[16] |
Free agency
Re-signed / extensions
| Player | Date | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natisha Hiedeman | February 1 | One-year deal | [17] |
| Dorka Juhász | May 15 | Exercised team option (Fourth-year) |
[18] |
| Diamond Miller | |||
| Jessica Shepard | June 23 | Set as active | [19] |
Additions
| Player | Date | Notes | Former Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marième Badiane | February 1 | Training camp contract | Fenerbahçe S.K. | [17] |
| Grace Berger | February 8 | Awarded off waivers | Indiana Fever | [20] |
| Kiara Leslie | February 10 | Training camp contract | Gigantes de Carolina | [21] |
| Camryn Taylor | February 25 | Esperides Kallitheas | [22] | |
| August 8 | 7-day contract | Free agent | [23] | |
| August 15 | [24] | |||
| August 22 | [25] | |||
| September 1 | Rest of season contract | [26] | ||
| Christyn Williams | February 26 | Training camp contract | Athletes Unlimited | [27] |
| Ajae Petty | April 16 | Ohio State Buckeyes | [28] | |
| Reigan Richardson | Duke Blue Devils | [28] | ||
| Anastasiia Kosu | April 19 | Rookie contract (2025 draft pick – No. 15) |
UMMC Ekaterinburg | |
| Dalayah Daniels | Rookie contract (2025 draft pick – No. 24) |
Washington Huskies | ||
| Jessica Shepard | Training camp contract | Athinaikos AS Vurona | [29] | |
| Diamond Johnson | April 24 | Norfolk State Spartans | [30] | |
| Maria Kliundikova | June 6 | Rest of season contract | Free agent | [31] |
| Yvonne Anderson | July 28 | 7-day contract | [32] | |
| August 4 | ||||
| Jaylyn Sherrod | August 9 | Rest of season contract | [33] |
Subtractions / unsigned
| Player | Date | Reason | New Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maïa Hirsch | April 10, 2023 | Unsigned draft pick (2023 draft pick – No. 12) |
N/A – retained rights | |
| Cecilia Zandalasini | December 6, 2024 | Expansion draft | Golden State Valkyries | [34][35] |
| Olivia Époupa[a] | February 1, 2025 | Free agency – unrestricted | — | |
| Myisha Hines-Allen | February 2, 2025 | Dallas Wings | [36] | |
| Aubrey Griffin | April 14, 2025 | Unsigned draft pick (2025 draft pick – No. 37) |
N/A – retained rights | |
| Kiara Leslie | May 5, 2025 | Waived | — | [37] |
| Christyn Williams | — | |||
| Dalayah Daniels | May 7, 2025 | — | [9] | |
| Diamond Johnson | — | |||
| Ajae Petty | — | |||
| Camryn Taylor | — | |||
| August 29, 2025 | Released | — | ||
| Dorka Juhász | May 10, 2025 | Suspended contract – full season | N/A – retained rights | [38] |
| Reigan Richardson | May 11, 2025 | Waived | — | [39] |
| Grace Berger | May 14, 2025 | Dallas Wings | [40] | |
| Marième Badiane | June 4, 2025 | — | [41] | |
| Jessica Shepard | June 10, 2025 | Suspended contract – temporary | N/A – retained rights | [42] |
| Alissa Pili | July 12, 2025 | Waived | Los Angeles Sparks | [43] |
| Yvonne Anderson | August 9, 2025 | Released | — | [44] |
- Initially was a reserved free agent. However, did not receive qualifying offer from the Lynx prior to February 1 and so became an unrestricted free agent.
Roster
| 2025 Minnesota Lynx roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth
Schedule
Preseason
| 2025 pre-season game log Total: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
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| 2025 pre-season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
| 2025 game log Total: 34–10 (Home: 20–2; Road: 14–8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 6–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–0)
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June
: 8–2 (Home: 5–0; Road: 3–2)
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July
: 9–3 (Home: 7–1; Road: 2–2)
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August
: 8–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 5–2)
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September
: 3–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–2)
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| 2025 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
- Games highlighted in ██ represent Commissioner's Cup games.
Playoffs
| 2025 playoff game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First round vs. Golden State Valkyries Won Series 2–0
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Semifinals vs. Phoenix Mercury Lost series 1–3
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| 2025 playoff schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | yx – Minnesota Lynx | 34 | 10 | .773 | – | 20–4 | 20–2 | 14–8 | 5–1 |
| 2 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 30 | 14 | .682 | 4 | 16–8 | 17–5 | 13–9 | 2–4 |
| 3 | x – Atlanta Dream | 30 | 14 | .682 | 4 | 15–6 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 3–2 |
| 4 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 27 | 17 | .614 | 7 | 13–11 | 15–7 | 12–10 | 4–2 |
| 5 | x – New York Liberty | 27 | 17 | .614 | 7 | 15–5 | 17–5 | 10–12 | 4–1 |
| 6 | cx – Indiana Fever | 24 | 20 | .545 | 10 | 13–8 | 13–9 | 11–11 | 4–1 |
| 7 | x – Seattle Storm | 23 | 21 | .523 | 11 | 12–12 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 4–2 |
| 8 | x – Golden State Valkyries | 23 | 21 | .523 | 11 | 9–15 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 3–3 |
| 9 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 21 | 23 | .477 | 13 | 10–14 | 9–13 | 12–10 | 2–4 |
| 10 | e – Washington Mystics | 16 | 28 | .364 | 18 | 8–12 | 10–12 | 6–16 | 2–3 |
| 11 | e – Connecticut Sun | 11 | 33 | .250 | 23 | 7–14 | 7–15 | 4–18 | 1–4 |
| 12 | e – Chicago Sky | 10 | 34 | .227 | 24 | 4–17 | 6–16 | 4–18 | 1–4 |
| 13 | e – Dallas Wings | 10 | 34 | .227 | 24 | 4–20 | 6–16 | 4–18 | 1–5 |
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- c – Commissioner's Cup winners
- y – Regular Season Champion
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
Playoffs
| First Round: Best-of-3 | Semifinals: Best-of-5 | Finals: Best-of-7 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Golden State Valkyries | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix Mercury | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix Mercury | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | New York Liberty | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix Mercury | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Las Vegas Aces | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Seattle Storm | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Las Vegas Aces | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Indiana Fever | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Atlanta Dream | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Indiana Fever | 2 | ||||||||||||
- Bold – Series winner
- Italic – Team with home-court-advantage
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Source:[45]
Regular season
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napheesa Collier | 33 | 33 | 32.8 | 53.1% | 40.3% | 90.6% | 7.3 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 22.9 |
| Kayla McBride | 39 | 39 | 31.3 | 41.6% | 39.5% | 90.5% | 2.3 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 14.2 |
| Courtney Williams | 44 | 44 | 28.6 | 42.8% | 38.9% | 84.9% | 4.9 | 6.2 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 13.6 |
| Bridget Carleton | 44 | 44 | 27.9 | 40.2% | 37.3% | 72.0% | 3.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 6.5 |
| Alanna Smith | 42 | 42 | 26.5 | 48.5% | 32.9% | 47.7% | 5.1 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 9.6 |
| Jessica Shepard | 40 | 12 | 20.9 | 63.8% | 0.0% | 54.4% | 7.3 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.0 |
| Natisha Hiedeman | 44 | 0 | 18.9 | 49.2% | 37.1% | 76.1% | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 9.1 |
| DiJonai Carrington | 11 | 1 | 16.6 | 48.5% | 50.0% | 76.0% | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 8.6 |
| Karlie Samuelson | 16 | 4 | 14.3 | 33.3% | 35.3% | 92.9% | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Yvonne Anderson | 1 | 0 | 12.0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | — | — |
| Maria Kliundikova | 34 | 1 | 11.0 | 50.0% | 32.0% | 57.1% | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 4.4 |
| Diamond Miller | 25 | 0 | 9.7 | 47.6% | 53.8% | 84.8% | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 4.1 |
| Alissa Pili | 14 | 0 | 5.9 | 45.5% | 36.4% | 75.0% | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | — | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Jaylyn Sherrod | 8 | 0 | 4.8 | 37.5% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | — | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Camryn Taylor | 6 | 0 | 3.8 | 14.3% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 1.0 | 0.2 | — | — | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Anastasiia Kosu | 21 | 0 | 3.8 | 44.8% | 0.0% | 60.0% | 0.7 | 0.2 | — | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Marième Badiane | 3 | 0 | 3.7 | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | 0.3 | — | 0.7 | — | 0.7 | — |
Playoffs
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayla McBride | 6 | 6 | 36.8 | 46.6% | 47.6% | 100.0% | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 20.0 |
| Napheesa Collier | 5 | 5 | 34.8 | 53.8% | 28.0% | 71.4% | 6.8 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 20.6 |
| Courtney Williams | 6 | 6 | 32.5 | 44.2% | 27.3% | 80.0% | 5.3 | 6.0 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 2.8 | 15.7 |
| Bridget Carleton | 6 | 6 | 28.5 | 31.0% | 36.8% | 100.0% | 4.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
| Alanna Smith | 6 | 6 | 23.5 | 44.1% | 11.8% | 57.1% | 5.2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 6.0 |
| Natisha Hiedeman | 6 | 0 | 20.8 | 38.3% | 15.8% | 80.0% | 1.7 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 7.8 |
| Jessica Shepard | 6 | 1 | 17.7 | 44.4% | 0.0% | 87.5% | 5.0 | 1.8 | 0.7 | — | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| DiJonai Carrington | 2 | 0 | 12.5 | 50.0% | 57.1% | 50.0% | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 8.5 |
| Maria Kliundikova | 5 | 0 | 10.2 | 38.9% | 0.0% | — | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.8 |
| Anastasiia Kosu | 3 | 0 | 2.3 | 100.0% | — | — | 0.3 | 0.3 | — | — | — | 2.0 |
| Jaylyn Sherrod | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0.0% | — | — | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | — | — | — |
| Camryn Taylor | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0.0% | — | — | 0.5 | — | — | — | — | — |
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award/Milestone | Date Awarded | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napheesa Collier | Western Conference Player of the Week | May 28 | [46] |
| June 10 | [47] | ||
| Western Conference Player of the Month – May | June 4 | [48] | |
| Western Conference Player of the Month – June | July 3 | [49] | |
| Western Conference Player of the Month – July | August 4 | [50] | |
| WNBA All-Star Captain and Starter | June 29 | [51][52] | |
| All-Star Game MVP | July 19 | [53] | |
| AP All-WNBA First Team | September 12 | [54] | |
| WNBA Most Valuable Player Top 5 Finalist | September 19 | [55] | |
| WNBA All-Defensive First Team | October 8 | [56] | |
| All-WNBA First Team | October 10 | [57] | |
| Kayla McBride | WNBA All-Star Reserve (replacement player) | July 15 | [58] |
| Western Conference Player of the Week | August 5 | [59] | |
| Cheryl Reeve | WNBA All-Star Head Coach | July 3 | [60] |
| Coach of the Month – July | August 4 | [61] | |
| Alanna Smith | WNBA Defensive Player of the Year | September 18 | [62] |
| WNBA All-Defensive First Team | October 8 | [56] | |
| Courtney Williams | WNBA All-Star Reserve | July 7 | [63] |