One of the league’s founding teams, New York, was led by Jonquel Jones, who scored 17 points. Five times prior, including the previous season, the Liberty reached the WNBA Finals but were never victorious.
With the victory, New York City won its first basketball championship since the Knicks won the NBA championship in 1973.
Other players stepped up as Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, two of the team’s studs, struggled offensively. After a 3-pointer by Leonie Fiebich to open overtime, Nyara Sabally stole the ball and made a layup to make it 65-60 and send the sold-out crowd into a frenzy.
In overtime, the Lynx failed to make any of their six field goal tries. With 21 seconds remaining, Ionescu missed her shot—her 18th miss in 19 attempts—and the Lynx had a final opportunity, but with 16 seconds remaining, Bridget Carleton missed a 3-pointer.
Stewart, who in the last seconds of regulation in Game 1 missed a free shot, made two free throws with 10.1 seconds remaining in overtime to secure the championship.
The players embraced and the streamers tumbled from the rafters as the last seconds passed.
Stewart calmly made two free shots to tie the game at sixty following a protracted video review.
Kayla McBride, who finished with 21 points, looked for an open three but missed it, requiring overtime to decide the outcome of the game.
Teresa Weatherspoon, who made a half-court heave in the 1999 WNBA Finals to force a critical Game 3, was among the many former Liberty greats in attendance.
MVP went to Jones, who was the only Liberty player to have participated in a Game 5 prior, during her time with Connecticut in 2019.
“I never would have imagined this. You are aware of my numerous denials. She added, “I’m very excited to do it here.
Before fouling out with 13 seconds remaining in overtime, Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier scored 22 points to lead the team.
The Lynx were attempting to end a tie with the Seattle Storm and Houston Comets and win a record-tying sixth WNBA championship. Under the leadership of Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles, and Maya Moore, Minnesota won four titles between 2011 and 2017. Up until this year, that was the team’s only previous participation in the WNBA Finals.
The WNBA Finals are going the whole distance for the first time since 2019. Five of the seven series that have gone to a Game 5 since the league changed to a best-of-five format in 2005 have been won by the home side, including the one that took place in 2019.
The league’s record-breaking season has come to a fitting end with this series. Record numbers have resulted from the five games, which all came down to the final few possessions, two overtime games, and a last-second shot. An average of nearly a million people watched each of the first three games, and the number of spectators increased with each match. Additionally, they have drawn sizable attendance.
Spike Lee, a supporter of Liberty who was wearing his Ionescu shirt, was courtside more than an hour before tipoff, speaking with the media. After Ionescu completed his pregame warm-up, the two exchanged a quick word and embraced. Lee was a member of the 18,090 sellout audience that contributed to this series breaking records for average attendance and total attendance for a WNBA Finals.
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