How one Sacramento woman adopted the Lynx 14 years ago and never looked back

Californian Alberta Herrera has been a loyal Lynx fan for 14 years, ever since the team drafted her favorite WNBA player, Rebekkah Brunson, to play for Minnesota.

The Sacramento native used to cheer for Brunson’s former team, the Sacramento Monarchs, until the team disbanded in 2009. She now frequently flies to Minneapolis to watch her adopted team play because watching games from California doesn’t compare with the electricity of Target Center.

“It’s the difference between going to an Eagles concert and then just cranking it up in your car,” she said.

Herrera was a Monarch season ticket holder for years while working as an auditor for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Now, the 70-year-old dedicates part of her retirement savings to Lynx tickets and travel expenses and jumps at any opportunity to see them play.

Herrera was in the Twin Cities in August for a week to see three home games. She couldn’t miss Maya Moore’s jersey retirement ceremony at the Lynx-Indiana Fever game on Aug. 24.

“When we were walking away from that last game in August, we were chatting and going, ‘Yeah, who’s it going to be in the finals? In the semifinals?’ And you know what? I kind of picked the Lynx and New York. That’d be a really good matchup,” Herrera said.

When her prediction turned out to be true, Herrera booked a last-minute flight to Minneapolis in October to come back for Wednesday and Friday’s finals games against the Liberty.

“Nobody expected they would get this far,” she said. “But you don’t make expectations, you just take the things that are put in your road and go with it. And I think that’s one of the things that makes the Lynx work so well.”

Herrera’s long-distance fandom is aided by the fact that her sister now lives in Minneapolis (and jokes that Brunson followed her here). For the past 14 years, the sisters have planned their vacations while referencing the WNBA schedule. “We look at the calendar as soon as they issue it,” Herrera said.

Northern California never formed another WNBA team to Herrera’s disappointment. Sure, Los Angeles got the Sparks. But she hates L.A.

Herrera didn’t care too much for the Lynx either at first because they often beat her beloved Monarchs. But she has since become a convert.

Herrera flew back to California after catching the Lynx’s last home game of the season on Friday when the team forced a Game 5 in New York. She will be watching the championship game at home.

And her neighbors will know she’s back.

“I’m animated. I’ll jump up and down. I’ll yell and go on,” she said. “I used to have a neighbor across the street. When he watched football, I could hear him in my office because his windows were open.”

Now, her windows are open. And Herrera’s passion for the Lynx has brought a revelation.

“Oh,” she said. “I became him.”