In their first-ever game, held at the Target Center in Minneapolis on June 12, 1999, in front of 12,122 fans, the Lynx defeated the Detroit Shock by a final score of 68-51. Minnesota\u2019s eventual All-Star guard Tonya Edwards scored the first points in the franchise\u2019s history with a layup off of an assist by teammate Sonja Tate. The Lynx finished the season with a final record of 15-17 under Head Coach Brian Agler.<\/p>\n
Related: Lynx player Napheesa Collier sends a message ahead of WNBA labor talks: Start listening to players<\/a><\/p>\n Success eluded the Lynx in their early history, and it was not until the 2003 season that the team finished with a record above .500 and secured their first playoff appearance. Finishing with a final record of 18-16 under new head coach Suzie McConnell Serio and All Star and future Hall of Famer Katie Smith, the Lynx finished fourth in the 2003 Western Conference standings.<\/p>\n On December 8, 2009, the Lynx named Cheryl Reeve their head coach. They began the season by bolstering a roster anchored by 2006 Rookie of the Year Seimone Augustus. Key among these pickups were Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore, and Minnesota native Lindsay Whalen.<\/p>\n The 2011 Minnesota Lynx finished with a record of 27-7 (the best in the WNBA) and secured a number-one seed in the WNBA Western Conference Playoffs. With a lineup featuring All Stars Whalen, Moore, Brunson and Seimone Augustus, they advanced through the playoff field and faced the Atlanta Dream in their first-ever WNBA Finals. The Lynx swept the Dream three games to none, thanks in part to the efforts of Finals MVP Augustus, and the team took home the first title for a Minnesota sports franchise since 1991.<\/p>\n Success and titles became standard for the Minnesota Lynx in the 2010s as they established a WNBA dynasty. They reached the postseason every year from 2011 to 2021 and were Western Conference Champions and WNBA Final participants in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n In 2013 the Lynx achieved a WNBA Regular Season best record of 26-8 with a roster that reunited Lindsay Whalen with her Minnesota Golden Gophers teammate Janel McCarville. They clawed their way to a second WNBA title without losing a postseason playoff game.<\/p>\n Related: Want championships, Minnesota? Check out the Frost and Lynx<\/a><\/p>\n In 2015 the Lynx added to their roster by trading for center Sylvia Fowles, who brought added defensive prowess. Fowles helped guide the Lynx to the 2015 Finals, decided in a decisive Game Five victory at the Target Center against the Indiana Fever. Two seasons later, in 2017, the Lynx secured a rematch of the 2016 WNBA Finals contest against the Los Angeles Sparks. In a decisive Game Five on October 4, 2017 the Lynx secured their fourth WNBA title with an 85 to 76 victory.<\/p>\n As the core of the Lynx roster changed over at the end of the decade, new stars stepped in to carry on the franchise\u2019s winning ways. Napheesa Collier became the Lynx\u2019s fourth-ever Rookie of the Year in 2019, with teammate Crystal Dangerfield receiving the same award in 2020. After missing the playoffs in 2022, the Lynx returned to them in 2023. The 2024 season also saw the Lynx return to the WNBA Finals in a down-to-the-wire, best-of-five series Game Five against the New York Liberty in New York City.<\/p>\n In June of 2025, ownership of the Minnesota Lynx and the Minnesota Timberwolves passed from Lynx founding owner Glen Taylor to a group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.<\/p>\n For more information on this topic, check out\u00a0the original entry<\/a>\u00a0on MNopedia.<\/p>\n Bibliography<\/p>\n \u201c1999 WNBA All-Star Game West 79, East 61<\/a>.\u201d Basketball Reference.<\/p>\n \u201c20th Season Memories: Two Decades of Home Openers<\/a>.\u201d WNBA.com, May 16, 2018.<\/p>\n \u201c2003\u20132004 Golden Gophers\u2014NCAA Final Four<\/a>.\u201d Gopher Sports.<\/p>\n \u201c2011 WNBA Playoffs<\/a>.\u201d WNBA.com.<\/p>\n \u201cBasketball in Minnesota and the Target Center Arena<\/a>.\u201d Minnesota Issue Guide, Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Gentry, Dorothy J. \u201cWomen\u2019s History Month: The Defining Eras | Minnesota Lynx<\/a>.\u201d WNBA.com, March 23, 2023.<\/p>\n Glass, Alana. \u201cHow Billionaire Glen Taylor Won A WNBA Championship<\/a>.\u201d Forbes.com, October 18, 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n Greene, Jim. \u201cMinnesota Lynx<\/a>.\u201d EBSCO Minnesota Lynx research starter, 2024.<\/p>\n Hansen, Mitchell. \u201cThrowback Thursday | A Look Back at the First Lynx Logo<\/a>.\u201d WNBA.com, August 10, 2017.<\/p>\n Millea, John. \u201cTwin Cities to Get Women\u2019s Pro Basketball Team in 1999.\u201d\u00a0Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 23, 1998.<\/p>\n Minnesota Lynx. Basketball Reference<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMinnesota Lynx<\/a>.\u201d Hennepin History Museum.<\/p>\n \u201cMinnesota Lynx at Atlanta Dream<\/a>.\u201d Basketball Reference.<\/p>\n Minnesota Lynx History<\/a>. WNBA.com.<\/p>\n \u201cOn This Day | WNBA Announces Lynx As Expansion Team<\/a>.\u201d WNBA.com, April 22, 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cRookie of the Year<\/a>.\u201d WNBA.com.<\/p>\n Trutor, Clayton. \u201cTrailblazers: How a Minnesota Team Helped Pioneer Professional Women\u2019s Basketball<\/a>.\u201d Minnesota Monthly.com, November 19, 2024.<\/p>\n![\"Lynx](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CherylReeve2017_940.jpg\")
Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve in 2017 Credit: MinnPost photo by Craig Lassig<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2019.19.2-360x500.jpg\")
Commemorative Lindsay Whalen photograph card from the Minnesota Lynx game against Washington Mystics on August 19, 2018, in Minneapolis. Credit: Minnesota Historical Society<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/mnopedialogo.png\")
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\u201cDetroit Shock at Minnesota Lynx, June 12, 1999.<\/a>\u201d Basketball Reference.<\/p>\n