Lynx center Sylvia Fowles selected WNBA MVP
In this Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016 file photo, Los Angeles Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike, left, shoots the decisive game winning shot with about 4 seconds left over Minnesota Lynx defender Sylvia Fowles as the Sparks won the WNBA championship with a 77-76 win over the Lynx in Game 5 of the finals in Minneapolis. | AP Photo/Jim Mone, File
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — It didn't take long for the tears to start rolling down Sylvia Fowles' cheeks, as unstoppable as the Minnesota Lynx center is in the post.
The WNBA MVP trophy sat just a few feet away, a coronation long expected and finally realized. Fowles was the runaway winner in voting results announced on Thursday (Friday in Manila), finishing with 35 of 40 first-place votes from a media panel.
"I said I wasn't going to tear up, but it's just a proud moment," Fowles said in a ceremony held two hours before the Lynx faced the Washington Mystics in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals. "All your hard work over the last 10 years has finally paid off."
There was never any doubt this season. Fowles dominated in the paint on both ends of the court from the very first night for the Lynx, who had a league-best 27-7 record during the regular season. New York's Tina Charles finished second in the voting and received three first-place votes. Los Angeles Sparks star Candace Parker was third.
Fowles averaged 18.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in her 10th season. Her play was so overpowering that the Lynx have gradually morphed their offense from a perimeter-oriented system that features Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus to a post-centric set where Fowles is the top priority.
Her athleticism and strength have long made her one of the most efficient players in the league and a three-time defensive player of the year. And after the Lynx missed a chance to repeat as champions last season with a loss to the Sparks in the finals, coach Cheryl Reeve vowed to feature Fowles more often.
"This team, in order to continue to be successful at a high level, we needed to turn our attention inside," Reeve said. "And it would take the pressure off of our perimeter players who have carried us since 2011. Early in the season, it exceeded my expectations as to how fast she was able to apply it."
Fowles averaged 11.4 field goal attempts — her highest number since 2011 — and shot 65.5 percent from the field, leading the WNBA in shooting percentage for the fifth time in her career.
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