The three-time WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury earned a spot in the best-of-five WNBA Semifinals, following a single-elimination road win in Indiana on Wednesday and a 101-94 victory over the New York Liberty at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Per the league’s new playoff format, the Mercury advances to Round 3, the WNBA Semifinals, and will take on the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in a best-of-five series for a berth to the 2016 WNBA Finals. This postseason will mark the fourth-straight year and fifth time in the past six seasons that the winner of Mercury/Lynx will advance to the Finals. The Mercury (2007, 2009, 2014) and Lynx (2011, 2013, 2015) have combined to win six of the last nine WNBA titles.
The best-of-five series will be a 2-2-1 format with the higher-seeded Lynx hosting Games 1, 2 and potentially 5, while the Mercury will play in front of the X-Factor for the first time this postseason in Game 3 at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Tickets for Game 3 are on sale NOW here. Should a Game 4 be required, that game will be hosted by the Mercury and played at GCU Arena on the campus of Grand Canyon University. More information on that contest will be sent out when/if the game becomes necessary. All semifinal games will be carried on the ESPN family of networks.
Phoenix vs. Minnesota, 2016 WNBA Semifinals Schedule
Date Location Time Broadcast
Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 28 Phoenix at Minnesota 5 p.m. ESPN2
Game 2: Friday, Sept. 30 Phoenix at Minnesota 5 p.m. ESPNNews
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 2 Minnesota at Phoenix 2 p.m. ESPN2
Game 4**: Tuesday, Oct. 4 Minnesota at Phoenix TBD ESPN2
Game 5*: Thursday, Oct. 6 Phoenix at Minnesota TBD ESPN2
*If needed
**Should Game 4 be needed, the game will be played at GCU Arena at Grand Canyon University