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| Dates | October 8–12 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Betty Lennox(Seattle Storm) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Storm: Lauren Jackson (2021) Sun: Lindsay Whalen (2022) Coaches: Anne Donovan (1995, player) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Connecticut defeatedNew York, 2–0 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Seattle defeatedSacramento, 2–1 | |||||||||
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The2004 WNBA Finals was the championshipseries of the2004 WNBA season, and the conclusion ofthe season's playoffs. TheSeattle Storm, second-seeded champions of theWestern Conference, defeated theConnecticut Sun, top-seeded champions of theEastern Conference, two games to one in a best-of-three series. This was Seattle's first title.
The Storm made their first appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Sun made their first appearance in the Finals in franchise history.
Going into the series, neither team had won a WNBA championship. TheHouston Comets hold the record with four championships won.
The Storm had a 20–14 record (.588), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Sun (18–16).
The 2004 Finals was the last time two teams had entered the series without having participated in them before.
| Seattle Storm | Connecticut Sun | |
|---|---|---|
| 20–14 (.588) 2nd West, 2nd overall | Regular season | 18–16 (.529) 1st East, 3rd overall |
| Defeated the (3)Minnesota Lynx, 2–0 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (4)Washington Mystics, 2–1 |
| Defeated the (4)Sacramento Monarchs, 2–1 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (2)New York Liberty, 2–0 |
The Sun and the Storm split the regular season series:
All times listed below areEastern Daylight Time.
October 8 7:00pm |
| Seattle Storm 64,Connecticut Sun68 | ||
| Scoring by half: 29–35, 33–35 | ||
| Pts:Lennox 17 Rebs:Edwards,Lennox 8 Asts:Bird 4 | Pts:Douglas 18 Rebs:Sales 9 Asts:Whalen 9 | |
| Connecticut leads series, 1–0 | ||
Katie Douglas and theConnecticut Sun took care of business at home to open theWNBA Finals. Douglas overcame an early ankle injury to score 18 points as the Sun held on for a 68–64 victory over theSeattle Storm, taking a 1–0 lead in the best-of-three championship series. The win was Connecticut's fifth straight after opening the postseason with a loss.
Douglas, who suffered a minor ankle sprain in the first half, nailed three 3-pointers and hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to finish the scoring.
Wendy Palmer had 16 points andLindsay Whalen chipped in 11 and a franchise playoff-record nine assists for the Sun, who used a 14–7 run to close the first half to grab a 33–29 lead at intermission.
Connecticut built its edge to 63–47 on a bucket byAsjha Jones with 7:20 remaining and survived a late 16–5 run by the Storm to get a win in its WNBA Finals debut.
Betty Lennox scored 17 points andLauren Jackson had 16 for Seattle. Lennox nailed a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to pull the Storm to within two points, but they failed to convert their final three shots before the final buzzer.
October 10 7:00 pm |
| Connecticut Sun 65,Seattle Storm67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 30–35, 35–32 | ||
| Pts:Sales 32 Rebs:McWilliams-Franklin 7 Asts:Whalen 7 | Pts:Lennox 27 Rebs:Jackson 11 Asts:Sam 3 | |
| Series tied, 1–1 | ||
Betty Lennox won her shootout withNykesha Sales and extended the WNBA Finals to a decisive game.
Lennox scored 27 points as theSeattle Storm survived a record-setting performance by Sales and held on for a 67–65 victory over theConnecticut Sun that evened theWNBA Finals at one game each.
Lennox made 11-of-16 shots. She scored 16 points in the second half, when the Sun - who never led - erased a 13-point deficit and tied the game.
Sales, who set a WNBA Finals record with 32 points, sank a jumper that evened it, 57–57, with 5:20 to go. Lennox answered with four points in a 6–0 burst that gave the Storm the lead for good.
Katie Douglas made a 3-pointer to halve the deficit before Lennox made a jumper at the 1:41 mark. Sales had a steal and layup, but Lennox's foul line jumper pushed the lead to 67–62 with 51 seconds remaining.
Sales made a 3-pointer before Lennox missed a jumper and Connecticut forced a jump ball. The Sun gained possession with 3.1 seconds left and ran a play for Sales, who hit the side of the backboard with a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the right corner.
Lauren Jackson had 15 points and 11 rebounds andSue Bird scored 10 points for the Storm, who improved to 4–0 at home in the postseason. They drew 17,072 toKeyArena for this one.
Douglas scored 14 points for the Sun, who had won five straight playoff games but stumbled early in this one. They fell behind, 22–10, midway through the first half and trailed, 35–30, at halftime.
October 12 9:00 pm |
| Connecticut Sun 60,Seattle Storm74 | ||
| Scoring by half: 36–37, 24–37 | ||
| Pts:Sales 18 Rebs:McWilliams-Franklin,Sales 6 Asts:Douglas,McWilliams-Franklin,Whalen 2 | Pts:Lennox 23 Rebs:Jackson 7 Asts:Bird 6 | |
| Seattle wins WNBA Finals, 2-1 | ||
TheSeattle Storm got to theWNBA Finals behind starsLauren Jackson andSue Bird. They won their first title behind a player picked off the scrap heap.
Betty Lennox scored 16 of her 23 points in the second half as the Storm won the WNBA championship with a 74–60 triumph over theConnecticut Sun in the decisive third game.
Acquired in the dispersal draft from the defunctCleveland Rockers, Lennox outshined Jackson, acknowledged as the best player in the world, and Bird, a star point guard. Lennox averaged 22.3 points in the series to earnMost Valuable Player honors.
Jackson collected 13 points and seven rebounds while Bird added eight - all in the second half - and six assists.
Playing in front of their second straight sellout crowd of 17,072, the Storm improved to a perfect 5–0 atKeyArena in the postseason. They won their last two series after losing the opener on the road.
AfterNykesha Sales hit two free throws to cut Seattle's lead to 51–46 with 13:05 left, the Storm went on a 13–2 run capped by Lennox's driving layup with 6:15 to go.
Led by centerKamila Vodichkova, who scored 12 of her 14 points in the opening half, Seattle never trailed, opening a 26–14 lead with 10:17 left. Connecticut answered with a 15–3 surge over the next seven minutes to tie the game.
But the Sun went cold in the second half, missing 18 of 23 shots. Shooting guard Katie Douglas characterized the team's poor shooting, finishing 0-of-11 from the floor. She scored just six points after averaging 16 in the first two games.
Seattle coachAnne Donovan made history by becoming the first female coach to guide a team to the WNBA title.
| 2004Seattle Storm Finals roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2004Connecticut Sun Finals roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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