The WNBA Semifinals Quiz: Test Your Playoff Knowledge

The WNBA semifinals tip off Sunday, October 4, and the final four looks nothing like the regular season suggested. The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx are already out, swept by a New York Liberty squad that entered the playoffs as the lowest seed in the field. The Atlanta Dream are back in the semifinals, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces survived a scare, and the expansion Golden State Valkyries just won the first playoff series in franchise history. Four teams remain, and two series will decide who plays for the trophy.

If you have been watching the postseason, this WNBA semifinals quiz is for you. Here is the WNBA semifinals quiz: six questions on the bracket, the records and the storylines, built from reporting by ESPN and NBC Sports. The answers sit further down the page with the sourcing, so no scrolling ahead. Good luck with the WNBA semifinals quiz.

The questions

Question one. The Liberty swept the top-seeded Lynx in the opening round, a surprise result for a team that stumbled into the postseason. What seed did New York carry into the playoffs?

Question two. Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale set a single-game WNBA playoff scoring record against Golden State, ESPN reported, carrying her team to an overtime win that forced a decisive final game. How many points did she score?

Question three. Atlanta's season has been powered by defense as much as offense. Which Dream star was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year?

Question four. The Golden State Valkyries needed a winner-take-all third game to get past Dallas, then celebrated the first playoff series win in franchise history, ESPN reported. The Valkyries are an expansion franchise. Which season of play is this for them?

Question five. The opening round was a sprint. The semifinals are a longer test, and the Finals stretch longer still. How many games decide each semifinal series at most?

Question six. Atlanta hosts New York in one semifinal, with the Dream holding home court as the higher seed, per NBC Sports. Which clubs meet in the other semifinal?

The answers

Answers below, with the reporting behind each one in this WNBA semifinals quiz.

Answer one. New York entered the bracket as the eighth seed, the last team in the field, and promptly swept the top-seeded Lynx without dropping a game, according to ESPN's playoff results.

Answer two. Forty-five. Ogunbowale's outburst set a new WNBA playoff record for points in a single game, ESPN reported, and it kept Dallas alive for one more night before Golden State closed out the series.

Answer three. Angel Reese. The Dream forward took home Defensive Player of the Year honors, NBC Sports Philadelphia reported, leading an Atlanta squad that is chasing the franchise's first championship.

Answer four. Their second. The Valkyries are in just their second season of existence, which makes the franchise's first playoff series victory one of the postseason's best stories, per ESPN. It is the kind of expansion storyline this WNBA semifinals quiz was made for.

Answer five. The series is a best-of-five, with the higher seed hosting the opening pair and the decider if it goes the distance, according to ESPN. The Finals then expand to a best-of-seven, opening October 17.

Answer six. The Golden State Valkyries and the Las Vegas Aces. The higher-seeded Valkyries hold home court in that series, which tips off Sunday on NBC and Peacock, per NBC Sports' schedule. The Dream-Liberty series opens the same day on ABC, according to ESPN.

A clean sweep of the WNBA semifinals quiz means you have been paying attention since the opening round. A few misses just means you have an excuse to watch the semifinals, with games airing across ABC, ESPN, NBC and Peacock. The semifinal winners advance to meet in the championship round later in October. Check ESPN's full playoff schedule and NBC Sports' semifinal preview for tip times and results as the series unfold.

Still hungry after the WNBA semifinals quiz? Test yourself on the rest of the weekend's headlines with today's general news quiz, or take the money markets quiz from earlier in the week.