Liberty survives OT classic against Lynx and wins first WNBA title

NEW YORK – The franchise that won the first game in WNBA history has finally won the final game of the season.

Nearly 30 years after playing for the league’s first championship and after several near misses, the New York Liberty are WNBA champions after a 67-62 overtime victory on Sunday over the Minnesota Lynx.

Breanna Stewart secured the win with two free throws with 10.1 seconds left in overtime. After Leonie Fiebich stole a pass, the Liberty dribbled their way to a victory that was as hard-fought and dramatic as any in a Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

Liberty forward Jonquel Jones was named Finals MVP shortly after a game in which she led New York with 17 points.

The Liberty prevailed 3-2 in a series that featured big shots and big momentum shifts in the first three games. In Game 4, which the Lynx won with two free throws with two seconds left, there was little separating the teams.

In Game 5, in front of a packed house at Barclays Center, the Liberty rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a 47-44 lead early in the fourth quarter. So many years of waiting would be reduced to 10 minutes.

At least it seemed that way.

Instead, these teams, which played each other nine times throughout the season, including the Commissioner’s Cup final in June, worked into overtime.

With 6.3 seconds left in regulation, the Liberty had the ball and trailed 60-58. Stewart was fouled by Alanna Smith, a call the Lynx disputed. After the challenge was ruled unsuccessful, Stewart hit both free throws and tied the game at 60-60. Kayla McBride missed a three-pointer for Minnesota and the game went into overtime.

The OT period was a defensive battle with both teams combining for just seven points before Stewart hit two game-winning free throws.

The title is special for Stewart, the team’s only native New Yorker, who remembers attending Liberty games as a child. A former two-time champion with the Seattle Storm, she joined the Liberty ahead of the 2023 season, making her the largest free agent signing in WNBA history.

“When I left Seattle, it was kind of a new chapter for me,” Stewart said. “And went to a place that was under construction and wanted to take ownership and leadership to get this team to a championship level.”

The Liberty gave the Big Apple its first professional basketball championship since 1973. That was the New York Knicks’ NBA title, which came 16 years before the oldest player on the Liberty roster, guard Courtney Vandersloot, was born. A city that loves basketball and winning can combine the two again.

After five previous attempts to win the title – starting in 1997, the WNBA’s inaugural year – the Liberty now have a crown to match their iconic torch logo.

Disappointed in a 3-1 loss to the Aces in last year’s Finals, Stewart didn’t play her best game offensively in Game 5 as she was 4 of 15 from the field and 5 of 8 from the foul line for 13 points. But she was strong on defense and had 15 rebounds.

Stewart, Jones and Sabrina Ionescu were the Liberty’s top three scorers in the regular season and playoffs. Ionescu, the No. 1 draft pick in 2020, hit a 28-foot 3-pointer with one second left in Game 3, which is now Teresa Weathersoon’s halfcourt shot that won Game 2 of the 1999 WNBA Finals. as the greatest throw in Liberty history.

The day after Weatherspoon’s shot, the Liberty lost Game 3 and the title in a best-of-three series to Houston. Ionescu’s shot Wednesday sealed an 80-77 come-from-behind victory and gave the Liberty two chances at the title. They failed in their first attempt on Friday, but secured their championship on Sunday.

After watching the Aces celebrate the title on the New York court last year, the Liberty spoke all season long about the scars it left them with – but also the lessons they learned from it.

“As you get older, you think about things and what you want to accomplish,” said Jones, 30, who previously lost in the WNBA Finals twice — once with Connecticut and last year with New York. “The most important thing in my career that I couldn’t achieve was (a championship).”

The Liberty were the No. 1 seed at 32-8, but fell in the playoffs to Atlanta, last year’s nemesis Las Vegas, and then to Minnesota, which defeated New York for the Commissioner’s Cup title this season in June .

And they suffered a bitter defeat in the first game of the finals in Brooklyn, where they led by 18 points with just over 5 minutes left, but then lost 95-93 in overtime. The Liberty knew they couldn’t afford to take advantage of this missed opportunity; They won Game 2 at home 80-66.

Game 3 and its fantastic conclusion will go down as an epic story in Liberty history, one that included many highlights overshadowed by disappointments. The loss in Game 4 added more drama to what many are calling the most competitive WNBA Finals ever. And Game 5 was a catharsis for the Liberty and its longtime fans.

The franchise that won the first WNBA game on June 21, 1997 in Los Angeles has reached its peak.

Ionescu was the No. 1 pick just four years ago, but missed most of 2020 after suffering an ankle injury in the third game of her rookie year. The Liberty finished the COVID-19-shortened season at 2-20.

The Liberty went 12-20 and returned to the playoffs in 2021. Sandy Brondello took over as coach in 2022 and New York went 16-20. The additions of Stewart, Jones and Vandersloot in 2023 were big pieces of the puzzle and led to consecutive 32-8 seasons and Finals appearances.

“It’s crazy just to see what we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time,” said Ionescu, the only player on the 2020 roster still with the Liberty.

Stewart remembers thinking for a moment before announcing her decision to enter free agency in 2023.

“I thought, ‘Am I doing the right thing? I’m leaving my safe space in Seattle,'” Stewart said. “But it was incredible. I’m back where I’m rooted. It feels like home.”

And now it’s a place to hang a championship banner.