The Minnesota Lynx are a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and play their home games at the Target Center. They are currently coached by Don Zierden, who took the helm in December 2006. The team is named after the lynx, a wild variety of cat. The Lynx are the sister team to the Minnesota Timberwolves and are owned by Glen Taylor.
In April 1998, the WNBA announced they would add two expansion teams (Minnesota and the Orlando Miracle), for the 1999 season. The Lynx started their inaugural season in 1999 with 12,000 fans in attendance to watch the first regular-season game, against the Detroit Shock at Target Center. The Lynx defeated Detroit 68-51 in the franchise's first game. They finished their first season 15-17 overall.
The Lynx' first head coach Brian Agler was released during the 2002 season after compiling a 47-67 in 3+ seasons. Heidi VanDerveer became the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
In 2003, the Lynx hired Suzie McConnell Serio as head coach. She led the team to finish with a franchise-best 18-16 record and advanced to the WNBA Playoffs for the first time. They matched both of these feats in the 2004 season.
The 2005 season was one of transition for the franchise. Leading scorer Katie Smith was dealt to Detroit in July and the team stumbled down the stretch, missing the playoffs for the first time in three years. The poor finish did pay off however, as the team won the draft lottery and selected All American guard Seimone Augustus of the LSU Tigers with the #1 overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft.
The Lynx began the 2006 season as the youngest team in the WNBA. On May 31 the team set the WNBA single game scoring record, routing the Los Angeles Sparks 114-71. That victory however, was a rare bright spot in a frustrating season. On July 23, with her team floundering to an 8-15 record, head coach Suzie McConnell Serio resigned. She was replaced by assistant Carolyn Jenkins, who piloted the squad to a 2-9 finish. The team's 24 losses set a franchise record.
Following the season, Seimone Augustus was named the 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old was the second player in team history to win the award (Betty Lennox, 2000).
On December 13, 2006 the Lynx named veteran NBA assistant Don Zierden their fifth head coach. His staff will include former Lynx player Teresa Edwards and Jenkins.
In the 2007 WNBA Draft on April 4, the Lynx traded center Tangela Smith, who they acquired in the dispersal draft from the Charlotte Sting in December 2006, to the Phoenix Mercury for guard Lindsey Harding, who had been selected first overall earlier that day.
The Lynx began the 2007 season 0-7, lost 10 straight in July and failed to get into the playoff race. They finished tying a league worst 10-24 record. On November 1, 2007 assistant coach/former head coach Carolyn Jenkins was named Director of Player Personnel of the WNBA.
