New York Liberty won their first WNBA championship in franchise history. The New York Liberty won their first WNBA title on Sunday, defeating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime to complete a five-game series sweep. The Liberty entered the finals as the only original WNBA franchise without a championship, losing the previous five appearances. Last year, New York advanced to the championship round but fell to the Las Vegas Aces.
Game 5 demanded a turnaround, as the Lynx jumped out to a nine-point lead, which was only reduced to seven before halftime. However, New York overcame the gap with a solid third quarter, outscoring the Lynx 20-10. After a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Breanna Stewart sank two free throws tie the game. The Liberty won the final quarter 7-2. It also benefited from some tight calls late, like the blocking foul that sent Stewart to the line to tie the game in the fourth quarter, which was upheld on review.
New York attempted 25 free throws compared to the Lynx’s 8. Jonquel Jones, Leonie Fiebich, and Nyara Sabally led the Liberty to a Game 5 triumph, while stars Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggled most of the night. Stewart had only 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting in the final. She went 3-for-17 against the Aces in the final game of the playoffs last season.
In her fourth season, Ionescu performed heroics on multiple occasions during the postseason. However, she only scored five points on one of 19 shots in the series’ final game. On the other hand, Jones was a matchup nightmare in the paint on Sunday. Fiebich and Sabally contributed 13 each. Jones was voted Finals MVP after finishing the series with an average of 17.8 points per game. Minnesota surprised everyone by winning Game 1 95-93 overtime on the road. Stewart missed two free throws late in the fourth quarter that could have sealed the game, and he also missed a potential game-tying layup after overtime.
The Liberty rallied for a comfortable 80-66 victory in Game 2, and Ionescu’s deep three sealed off another nail-biter in Game 3. Game 4 was another nail-biting drama, with Minnesota winning 82-80. The Lynx were led in the playoffs by forward Napheesa Collier, an Olympic teammate of Stewart and Ionescu named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year following the regular season. Collier had 22 points and seven rebounds in Sunday’s loss but fouled out with 13 seconds left in overtime.
