For the first time in 28 years, The New York Liberty have captured their first WNBA title in franchise history in front of a sold-out crowd in Brooklyn.
The Liberty can finally celebrate after five previous finals appearances where the team fell short against Houston Comets (1997, 1999, 2000), Los Angeles Sparks (2002), and Las Vegas Aces (2023). This title is not only special to the franchise but to the fans, Liberty Legends, and the city New York who has not had a sports team win a championship title since 1973.
The series between the Minnesota Lynx was one of the most entertaining and physical finals series that saw both teams’ gruel out in two overtime games with three crunch time plays that led to the winner of each game. Minnesota stole game 1 in overtime after being down by 18 points. New York bounced back in game 2 at home with a huge performance from B. Laney-Hamiliton who finished with 20 points after scoring in single digits throughout the playoffs.
Game 3 New York guard Sabrina Ionescu shot the game winning three to give the Liberty 2-1 lead in the finals with only one more game to win a championship. But the Lynx canceled the Liberty in game 4 from ending the series in Minnesota and forced a game 5 in New York to keep the series going.
Game 5 was packed in Barclays on Sunday October 20 with many fans, celebrities such as Sue Bird, Jason Sudeikis, Angel Reese and former liberty legends in Teresha Weatherspoon, Sue Wicks, and Swin Cash. The game started with the Lynx getting off to a hot start while the Liberty struggled to get momentum going and were down 34-27 in the first half.
Liberty comeback in the third quarter dropping 20 points and holding Minnesota to ten points from the impactful performances by Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally coming off the bench with 11 points. Ionescu and Stewart combined to score and assist nine total points in the quarter.
“This game was back and forth. Both team’s star players struggled offensively which was impacted by the defensive schemes established that cause a low scoring game.”
The fourth quarter saw the Liberty and Lynx brawl for ten minutes of play with defensive stops and difficult ways to score points for either team take the lead that will give one the championship. Minnesota took the lead 60-58 with only eight seconds left in the game from a post-up by Naphessa Collier to edge her team to the end. Coach Sandy Brondello called a timeout to set up a final play for Breanna Stewart to take the shot that could force overtime or win the title.
Liberty makes a controversy in bounce pass to Breanna Stewart who drives towards the rim where she runs into Lynx center, Alanna Smith and attempts to shoot the ball then the referee calls the foul. Lynx coach Reeve is upset with the call and asks for a challenge to be reviewed over a possible non-foul. The referees go to the monitor to check for a non-foul and after few minutes the refs declare that the challenge is unsuccessful.
“I could not tell if the call was a foul or not. The back angle showed that Smith did not foul her, but the side angle looked like there was contact made.”
Stewart goes to the free throw line where she knocks down two crucial shots to tie the game up with five seconds remaining in the quarter. Lynx calls the final timeout to get a shot to win the game. They inbound from half court to McBride who catches the ball and throws it up from three which misses, and the liberty grab the rebound to force overtime.
Overtime begins with the Liberty winning the tip and finally getting a good three from German rookie Fiebich to give the Liberty an early three-point lead. Then Sabally, another German player on the team steals the ball near half court and puts the team up by five. The Lynx struggle to get offensive going by the aggressiveness the Liberty gave on defense.
Lynx finally scores at the free throw line to bring the lead back down to three with only a certain amount second remaining in overtime. Liberty gets the ball next possession and draw up a couple of shots to be rebound by the Lynx with 16 seconds. Lynx tries to get a three from Carleton who has been clutch this entire season but misses the three and Liberty grabs the rebound to be fouled by ten seconds left.
Stewart goes back to the line again and ices the game with both free throws going in. The Lynx uses their reset timeout to find a shot with little time left. The ball goes in and stolen by Fiebich who then passes to Stewart to run the clock out, now the fans and Liberty can now celebrate the franchise win their first title.
Confetti starts to fall on the court as players, coaches and fans run onto the court to recognize a New York sports team bring home a title in over a decade. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert praises the Liberty for their hustle in the finals and rewards Jonquel Jones the Finals MVP based on her 17 points and six rebounds in this game.
“The Liberty’s defense and supporting cast is the main reason why this team won the championship. This team work hard this season to earn the title and will be forever celebrated but the franchise still has more to prove.”
