WNBA Finals: Liberty rally beats Lynx in overtime in Game 5 to capture first WNBA title

After nearly three decades and several missed opportunities, the New York Liberty have finally won a WNBA title.

The Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 on Sunday night in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays Center thanks to a second-half surge and a surge in overtime. That gave the Liberty their first championship in franchise history.

The Liberty, one of the league’s founding members, have been to the Finals five times, including last season when they were eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces. They reached the Finals in four of the first six WNBA seasons. Ultimately, however, the Liberty managed to lift the trophy, marking the city’s first professional basketball championship since the New York Nets won the ABA title in 1976.

Sunday’s contest was the first winner-take-all overtime game in WNBA Finals history, which was appropriate considering the rest of the chaotic series that preceded it.

The Liberty wasted no time in overtime either. Leonie Fiebich came out in extra time and immediately hit a 3-pointer. New York was just 1 of 19 from behind the arc to that point. Nyara Sabally sank a breakaway layup after a steal on the other end to give the Liberty a five-point lead. That was the biggest lead of the game.

The Liberty didn’t make another basket, but held Minnesota without a field goal the rest of overtime, securing the five-point victory.

Sabrina Ionescu finished the game with just five points after shooting 1 of 19 from the field and 1 of 10 from the 3-point line for the Liberty. Breanna Stewart, who now has three titles to her name, finished with 13 points on 4 of 15 shooting and 15 rebounds. The Liberty shot just 2 of 23 shots from beyond the arc as a unit.

Jonquel Jones is named MVP of the WNBA Finals

Jonquel Jones was named MVP of the WNBA Finals after leading the team to victory with 17 points and six rebounds.

Jones, who is in her sixth season in the league and second with the Liberty, dominated the entire series. She averaged 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in the five games. She dropped 24 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime loss in Game 1 and had 21 points and eight rebounds in Game 4 on Friday night.

Jones, who moved to the United States from the Bahamas as a child to play basketball, was the league’s MVP in 2021 while playing for the Connecticut Sun. She has one year left on her two-year contract with the Liberty.

Freedom rally after a slow start

Although they pulled it off, the Liberty got off to another slow start Sunday night. The Lynx took a 19-10 lead after the first quarter while holding New York to just 5 of 18 points from the field. Ionescu and Stewart combined to shoot 0 of 8, and the Lynx finished the period on a 7-0 run.

New York’s offensive woes continued into the second quarter, and Napheesa Collier and the Lynx took full advantage. Collier dropped 14 points in the first half and helped lead a strong defense that forced the Liberty to a single field goal, a layup by Stewart, in the final 4:30 of the second quarter.

Although Ionescu didn’t score any points in the first 20 minutes, the Liberty finished the second quarter with an 8-2 win – almost entirely from the free throw line – giving the Lynx a lead of seven at halftime.

Finally the Liberty shots could be fired. New York opened the second half with a 13-4 score and took its first lead late in the third quarter after Sabally made two layups off assists from Ionescu – who scored her first points of the game, albeit from the open field – Throwing line during this run.

At the end of the third quarter, the Liberty took a three-point lead after holding the Lynx to just 10 points in the period.

After missing 15 consecutive misses from the field, which tied a record for the most consecutive misses in a winner-take-all game in WNBA history, Ionescu was able to knock down a shot late in the fourth quarter. Just before the three-minute mark, Ionescu hit a three-pointer from the wing, marking the Liberty’s first three-pointer of the night.

However, the lead of four points could not be maintained. The Lynx rallied after two free throws from Kayla McBride and a basket from Collier, tying the game. Collier again came through with a perfect reverse layup to jump ahead, but Stewart drew a foul on a mid-range jumper with just 5.2 seconds left. That sparked a challenge from the Lynx that was unsuccessful, sending Stewart to the free throw line. Stewart, who had missed two free throws just 30 seconds earlier, hit both to tie the game. That was the Lynx’s last chance and they missed, sending the game into overtime.

Collier led the Lynx with 22 points and seven rebounds. She shot 11 of 23 from the field before committing a foul late in overtime. McBride added 21 points. They were the only Lynx players to score in double figures. Minnesota also only made one more 3-pointer than Liberty.

The Lynx were looking for a record fifth championship and first since their historic run that began more than a decade ago. The Lynx won four titles over a seven-year span with stars Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, most recently in 2017. They have returned to the postseason every year since that last championship, but this is the first time they have done that again Final.