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Minnesota Lynx retires jersey of rebounding ace Sylvia Fowles
Sylvia Fowles, counted among the greatest Lynx players in franchise history, won titles in 2015 and 2017 and earned WNBA Finals MVP honors both times.
MINNEAPOLIS — Sylvia Fowles has always deflected praise to others. The Minnesota Lynx great couldn’t escape the spotlight as the team retired her jersey Sunday night.
The jersey retirement ceremony capped off a reunion weekend for the Lynx, who honored the 25 greatest players in franchise history, including Fowles, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson.
“It’s hard because I typically don’t talk about myself. I am the way I am because of the people in my life,” Fowles said. “It’s about me, but I wouldn’t be the same without those people helping me along the way.”
Now her No. 34 jersey hangs with all of them except Moore, whose number will likely be retired in the future.
“I never been one to chase goals, chase many records,” Fowles said. “To see who I’m next to in the rafters, it’s a big thing that I’ve done my job.”
The 6-foot-6 center won titles in 2015 and 2017 and earned WNBA Finals MVP honors both times. Fowles retired after last season.
She was drafted second by the Chicago Sky in 2008 before being traded midway through the 2015 season to the Lynx. Fowles spent the final eight years of her 15-year career with Minnesota.
“To lose half a season because you felt so strongly about being a Lynx,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “That says quite a bit and that it started when she made that determination, and then her actions, her words, everything is exemplified that to the nth degree. … She’s been everything we hoped for and then some.”
She finished her career as the WNBA’s all-time rebounding leader with 4,007. She holds the league record for double-doubles (193) and was the MVP in 2017.
“I don’t know of a more dominant player who’s as sweet as pie,” Moore said during the retirement ceremony.
Fowles was named the league’s defensive player of the year four times and was an eight-time All-Star. She also helped the U.S. win four Olympic gold medals.
On Sunday, the team that she helped turn into a dynasty pulled off its first home win of the season, 91-86 over the Los Angeles Sparks. Minnesota rallied from a late 11-point deficit.
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With a 17-member jury finally seated after an arduous selection process, the prosecution and defense on Thursday took the first step in building their cases.
MANKATO, Minn. — With an arduous jury selection process finally in the rearview mirror, both prosecutors and the defense began laying out their cases Thursday in the murder trial of Adam Fravel.
Fravel is charged with four felony counts – first-degree murder, first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony offense – in the death of 26-year-old Maddi Kingsbury, his live-in partner and mother of Favel’s two children.
Kingsbury was last seen dropping her young son and daughter off at daycare in Winona the morning of March 31, 2023. She was reported missing by family and friends later that day. Maddi’s decomposing remains were found south of Winona 68 days later. The medical examiner eventually concluded she died of homicidal violence, likely asphyxiation.
Opening statements began shortly after 9 a.m. in Blue Earth County District Court, chosen as the venue after Judge Nancy Buytendorp ruled Fravel’s trial should be moved from Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
The state was the first to address the jury panel, with prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz immediately painting a picture of Maddi as a successful career woman and mother who had become increasingly frustrated with Fravel and his inability to contribute as their seven-year relationship crumbled.
Prokopowicz told jurors that Kingsbury had met a man, Spencer Sullivan, on a dating app and as their relationship grew Maddi decided to end her partnership with Fravel. Kingsbury contacted her landlord and said she was terminating the least, and that she had found a townhouse where she and the children would live.
The state also laid out a list of electronic and video evidence it says proves Fravel killed Maddi and engaged in an elaborate coverup, also indicating there will be testimony on alleged abuse in the relationship.
Fravel’s defense team began its opening statement with a geography lesson of sorts, with attorney Zach Bauer naming Winona and the small communities of Rushford, Choice, Mable, and the highways and county roads that run through them. Bauer asked jurors to think about the locations as they listen to testimony and absorb the evidence presented in Fravel’s trial.
The defense then began painting its own picture of the relationship between Fravel and Kingsbury, saying like many couples they had disagreements and there were times Maddi would move out the home and other times when Fravel would go home to stay with his parents.
Unlike prosecutors – who said Kingsbury’s relationship with Spencer Sullivan was getting deeper – the defense told jurors about texts from Maddi to her sister saying she was going to marry Adam Fravel. Ultimately, Bauer told the court, Kingsbury and Fravel agreed to separate but were doing so in a cooperative and planned manner.
Bauer told jurors that Fravel cooperated with police after Kingsbury disappeared, saying his defense team would show that investigators ignored evidence and facts that suggested his innocence. He indicated they will challenge the prosecution’s version of how and where the body was found, and who may have had access to the remote site not far from Mabel.
The defense also said they will call a neighbor who will testify they never heard any fighting or signs of discord in the relationship between Kingsbury and Fravel.
The 16-year-old girl was last seen in September in north Minneapolis.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teenage girl.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) shared Thursday on X that 16-year-old Tivona Cardenas was last seen in late September in north Minneapolis.
Cardenas is 5 feet 2 inches and 108 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, according to the Minnesota BCA.
If you have any information on the teen’s whereabouts, call 911.
St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host the event Sunday to raise money for colon cancer awareness and screenings.
ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host runners, walkers and supporters on Sunday for the 20th annual Get Your Rear in Gear event.
The fundraiser boosts money and awareness for colon cancer and the importance of screening for it. Attendees can enjoy music, snacks, a giant inflatable colon, timed 10K and 5K races, untimed 5K and one-mile memory walk and a Kids’ Fun Run.
Chris Evans, the president of the Colon Cancer Coalition, and William Pierce, a caregiver who lost his mom to colorectal cancer, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share more about the event and the importance of screening.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,550 Minnesota residents will be diagnosed and 830 could lose their life to colon cancer in 2024.
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