2015 WNBA schedule released

Christmas/Hannukah comes early for WNBA fans this year, as the 2015 schedule just dropped:

-- Five ESPN2 telecasts featuring former league MVPs going head-to-head, including a pair of clashes involving the Mercury (Taurasi, 2009) and Lynx (Moore, 2014), first on June 14 when Minnesota visits Phoenix; then on Aug. 30 when the teams meet in Minneapolis. Other MVP matchups will take place July 21 when Taurasi and Phoenix visit Los Angeles (Candace Parker, 2013); Aug. 4 as Moore’s Lynx pay a call to Parker’s Sparks; and Aug. 16 when Catchings (2011) and Indiana travel to the Valley of the Sun to face Taurasi and the Mercury.

-- The Mercury will appear on six ESPN2 telecasts. All-Star-laden Chicago (Delle Donne, Jessica Breland, Sylvia Fowles, Epiphanny Prince, and Courtney Vandersloot) will make four appearances, and Minnesota (Moore, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, and Lindsay Whalen), and Los Angeles (Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, and Kristi Toliver) will make three.

-- Western Conference rivals Minnesota and Phoenix, which met for the right to advance to the WNBA Finals presented by Boost Mobile in 2011, 2013, and 2014, will square off twice on ESPN2 (in Phoenix on June 14 at 3 p.m. ET; and on Aug. 30 in Minneapolis at 7 p.m. ET).

-- A pair of games featuring a rematch of the 2014 Finals presented by Boost Mobile between Phoenix and Chicago. Both contests will air on ESPN2, with the Mercury first hosting the Sky on July 28 at US Airways Center. (10 p.m. ET), followed by an Aug. 9 matchup at Chicago’s home, Allstate Arena (1 p.m. ET).

-- A rematch of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals tips off on June 14, when Chicago meets Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse (1 p.m.) in the first game of a doubleheader on ESPN2.

-- Season-long coverage on ESPN2 will include six Tuesday evening games and five Sunday telecasts.