The Indiana Fever popped champagne, crushed vodka seltzers and chugged from the Commissioner’s Cup trophy after a comeback win over the Lynx to win the league’s in-season championship Tuesday.
Fever All-Star guard Caitlin Clark, who missed her third straight game due to a groin injury, held the cup while teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Sydney Colson drank from it, as seen in videos on social media following Indiana’s 74-59 win over the first-place Lynx.
The visitors’ locker room in Minneapolis was covered in clear tarp for the celebration, which included buckets of champagne bottles and Nütrl vodka seltzers.
The Fever bounced back after being down 20-12 in the first quarter, and outscored the Lynx 20-7 in a strong second-quarter showing.
Fever forward Natasha Howard scored a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds en route to being named the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup MVP.
Howard’s defensive prowess held Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier — the WNBA’s leading scorer at 24.4 points per game — to 12 points on 6-of-18 shooting.
Minnesota won the Commissioner’s Cup last year, defeating the Liberty in New York.
The Aces won it in 2022 and then claimed the WNBA title later that year, while the Liberty emerged victorious in 2023 and grabbed the title last season.
However, each of the last two runner-ups (Aces, Liberty) won the championship.
The Fever (8-8) and the Lynx (14-2) aren’t scheduled to play each other in the regular season, but they could meet again in the playoffs.