AfriPulse
Phoenix earned the last spot in the WNBA semifinals on Friday night
Sep 19, 2025
at
11:20 pm ET
•
2 min read
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports
After a highly competitive first round, the semifinalists are set in the 2025 WNBA playoffs. The fourth-seeded Phoenix Mercury held off the visiting New York Liberty, 79-73, in Friday night’s decisive Game 3 to round out the semifinal field. The Mercury advance to face the top-seeded Lynx in the next round. The Lynx were the only team to advance with a two-game sweep in the first round as they knocked out the Golden State Valkyries.
The shorthanded and sixth-seeded Indiana Fever — who are missing multiple players due to season-ending injuries, including Caitlin Clark — upset and eliminated the third-seeded Atlanta Dream on Thursday night in a decisive first-round Game 3. After that, the Las Vegas Aces beat the Seattle Storm, 74-73, in a thrilling Game 3 to punch their own ticket to the semis.
The best-of-five semifinals will begin on Sunday.
Minnesota entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed after being the WNBA’s most dominant team throughout the 44-game regular season. The Lynx, looking for the fifth championship in team history and their first since 2017, will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Below is a look at the first-round matchups and the full schedule for the 2025 playoffs.
WNBA playoff bracket
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports
Teams played a best-of-three series in the first round, will play a best-of-five series in the semifinals, and — in a new change this year — a best-of-seven affair in the Finals.
In 2024, the first round had a 2-1 format, which meant the higher seed got the first two games at home, while the lower seed only got to host if they made it to Game 3. This year it is a 1-1-1 format, with Games 1 and 3 hosted by the higher seed while the lower seed hosts Game 2.
All games on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 are streaming on fubo (Try for free).
First-round schedule, scores (best-of-three) All times Eastern
Sunday, Sept. 14
Game 1: Lynx 101, Valkyries 72 (Lynx lead, 1-0) Game 1: Dream 80, Fever 68 (Dream lead, 1-0) Game 1: Liberty 76, Mercury 69 OT (Liberty lead, 1-0) Game 1: Aces 102, Storm 77 (Aces lead, 1-0) Tuesday, Sept. 16
Game 2: Fever 77, Dream 60 (Series tied, 1-1) Game 2: Storm 86, Aces 83 (Series tied, 1-1) Wednesday, Sept. 17
Game 2: Mercury 86, Liberty 60 (Series tied, 1-1) Game 2: Lynx 75, Valkyries 74 (Minnesota wins, 2-0) Thursday, Sept. 18
Game 3: Fever 87, Dream 85 (Indiana wins, 2-1) Game 3: Aces 74, Storm 73 (Las Vegas wins, 2-1) Friday, Sept. 19
Game 3: Mercury 79, Liberty 73 (Phoenix wins, 2-1) Semifinals schedule (best-of-five) Sunday, Sept. 21
Game 1: Aces vs. Fever, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo Game 1: Lynx vs. Mercury, 5 p.m. — ESPN/fubo Tuesday, Sept. 23
Game 2: Lynx vs. Mercury, 7:30 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Game 2: Aces vs. Fever, 9:30 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Sept. 26
Game 3: Fever vs. Acces, TBD. — ESPN2/fubo
Game 3: Mercury vs. Lynx, TBD — ESPN2/fubo
Sunday, Sept. 28
*Game 4: Mercury vs. Lynx, 1 or 5 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
*Game 4: Fever vs. Aces, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Tuesday, Sept. 30
*Game 5: Aces vs. Fever, TBD
*Game 5: Lynx vs. Mercury, TBD
Finals schedule (best-of-seven) Friday, Oct. 3
Game 1, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Sunday, Oct. 5
Game 2, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Game 3, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Oct. 10
Game 4, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Sunday, Oct. 12
*Game 5, 3 p.m. — ABC/fubo
Wednesday, Oct. 15
*Game 6, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
Friday, Oct. 17
*Game 7, 8 p.m. — ESPN/fubo
* If necessary
Our Latest WNBA Stories
Source: CBS Sports | Read the Full Story…
