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Minnesota says goodbye to Lindsay Whalen

Thousands of fans came to Target Center to hear Lindsay Whalen's name announced in the starting lineup one last time, at least for the regular season.

MINNEAPOLIS - Sunday was the end of era in Minnesota sports.

Lindsey Whalen, who is retiring to coach the Gophers, played her final regular season game for the Lynx.

Governor Mark Dayton declared Sunday "Lindsay Whalen Day," and that's exactly what it was - Lindsay sparking a run in the fourth quarter with a big three that led the Lynx to victory.

And for the fans that packed Target Center, it was bittersweet.

From the Final Four run in college, to four WNBA championships in the pros, women's basketball in Minnesota has become synonymous with Whalen.

“She put us on the map,” said Tiffany Beamer of Minneapolis.

And Whalen remains synonymous with winning.

“Oh yeah, they say ‘the winning Whay,’ W-H-A-Y,” Beamer said.

Thousands of fans came to Target Center to hear Lindsay Whalen's name announced in the starting lineup one last time, at least for the regular season.

“Minnesota owes Lindsay a tremendous thank you,” Caroline Schlehuber said.

“I don't think we could thank her enough,” added Michelle Schlehuber.

And Michelle is well aware that she’s not the only one thanking Lindsay.

“A lot of girls look up to her,” she said. “And she's shed a lot of light on women's sports, which is something really important.”

And following her last regular season game, Lindsay said thank you to the fans.

“I feel like we’ve done this together, you know, we built this thing together. You know, we built it on rock and roll,” she said to the laughter of fans, “and on heart and soul as well.”

The Lynx first playoff game is Tuesday in LA at 9:30 p.m. They need to win that in order to earn a home playoff game. Hopefully, fans will get to see Lindsay again before the season and her playing career come to an end.

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