BROOKLYN, NY — The New York Liberty have won their first WNBA championship in franchise history after taking Game 5 from the Minnesota Lynx in an overtime thriller, 67-62. New York was led by Jonquel Jones with 17 points and forward Breanna Stewart with 13 points, including the game-winning free throws.
Despite the Liberty’s power duo of guard Sabrina Ionescu and Stewart both having an off night, the rest of the team stepped up, including key performances by center Nyara Sabally and rookie Leonie Fiebich — each with 13 points.
It felt as if nerves were taking over the Liberty at the beginning of this Game 5. New York shot a low 27.8% from the field and 0% behind the 3-point line. New York’s usual leading scorers of Ionescu and Stewart were struggling shooting, both ending the first quarter scoreless.
Lynx forward Napheesa Collier led the way for Minnesota with eight early points. They finished the first with 14 of their 19 points in the paint, getting easy layups under the basket with no enforcement as New York trailed by nine.
New York’s offensive struggles continued in the second quarter. The Liberty seemed out of sync with each other, throwing sloppy passes that were rarely on target.
Collier, this season’s WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, had been limiting Stewart all series and once again brought on her toughness in this game. Collier forced Stewart to take hard shots, containing her to just 5 points by the end of the first half. After initially going down by double-digits in the second, the Liberty forced two turnovers towards the end, giving New York momentum to cut the lead down to seven points at halftime.
The Liberty came out of halftime with a different mindset — a winning mindset. With outside shooting being non-existent for New York, they attacked the paint more in the third quarter and were able to get to the foul line nine more times, which ultimately changed the dynamic of this game.
Jones continued to lead the team, ending the quarter with 15 points, but New York saw a significant performance by bench player Sabally as well. She added nine points, including the basket that gave the Liberty their first lead of the game. The Liberty outscored the Lynx 20-7 to finish the third.
Heading into the fourth with a three-point advantage, the Liberty saw themselves picking up fouls early on, accumulating three team fouls with seven-and-a-half minutes still left to go.
Jones continued to feast under the basket, powering her through Lynx defenders. However, Lynx guard Kayla McBride propelled her team to take back the lead midway through the fourth at 50-49, with two crucial baskets.
That’s when Fiebich started to contribute. After having just once, she scored four consecutive points. Ionescu saw her first three-pointer of the game at the three-minute mark after previously going 0-for-6, and Barclays Center lit up in excitement, waiting for that moment.
On the other end of the court, a layup by Collier tied the game once again with under two minutes to go. After Minnesota took the lead, Stewart drew contract, able to tie the game once again but went 0-for-2 from the free-throw line. New York eventually received the ball back, down two with 6.3 seconds left to go. Stewart got the ball and went up for the jumper but got fouled by Alanna Smith.
Stewart, who previously missed both her free-throws before, sunk both this time in the most nerve-wracking moment of the game. That tied the game up and despite the Lynx having 5.2 seconds left to respond, McBride missed the three-pointer resulting in overtime.
Fiebich immediately scored a three-pointer for New York just seconds into overtime. The Liberty got four consecutive defensive stops, including a forceful steal by Sabally, who played it up on the other end, putting New York up 60-65 with three minutes to go.
New York was a united defensive unit in this overtime period, forcing three more turnovers. With 18.4 seconds to go in overtime, the Lynx got the ball back down 62-65 but failed to respond with a missed 3-point attempt by Bridget Carleton. Stewart then got fouled by Lynx guard Courtney Williams, who put her at the line with 10 seconds left. With the game on the line, she sank both to seal the deal and win the game.
