Liberty Edged in OT to Open Finals
October 11, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release
On Thursday, the New York Liberty (0-1) fell to the Minnesota Lynx (1-0), 95-93, in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals.
The Liberty scored 32 points in the opening quarter for the highest-scoring first quarter in a WNBA Finals game in franchise history.
New York set a franchise Finals record for offensive rebounds in a single half with 10 in the first half of Game 1. The Liberty also set a franchise Finals record for most offensive rebounds in a single Finals game and broke the franchise record for most offensive rebounds in a single postseason game with 20.
Four Liberty players scored at least 15 points, marking the 10th time in WNBA history that four teammates recorded 15 or more points in the same Finals game, and the first such game in Liberty Finals history.
Five different Liberty players recorded at least three offensive rebounds, marking the second time in WNBA Finals history that five teammates recorded three or more offensive rebounds in a single game.
Up Next: The Liberty will face the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, October 13 at 3:00 PM at Barclays Center for Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.
KEY RUNS
Q1: New York went on a 14-3 run from the 7:25 mark of the first to the 4:00 mark of the first quarter.
Q2: Minnesota went on an 11-3 run from the 5:02 mark of the second to the 1:24 mark of the second quarter.
Q4: New York went on an 8-0 run from the 7:58 mark of the fourth to the 6:55 mark of the fourth quarter.
OT1: Minnesota went on a 22-3 run from the 4:57 mark of the fourth to the 2:42 mark of overtime.
PLAYER NOTABLES
Jonquel Jones led the Liberty offense with a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds on 64% (9-14) shooting from beyond the arc. Jonquel also converted on all five of her free throw attempts against Minnesota and recorded a game-high four offensive rebounds.
Breanna Stewart finished with 18 points and nine rebounds to go along with three assists and two blocks. Stewart passed Angel McCoughtry for eighth on the WNBA's all-time postseason scoring list and surpassed Vickie Johnson for second on the Liberty's all-time postseason rebounding list. This marked Breanna's 39th consecutive playoff game with at least 10 points, which is the longest such streak in WNBA postseason history. Stewart also set a Liberty franchise record for career games scoring at least 15 points in the postseason with her 12th such performance.
Sabrina Ionescu scored 19 points with five rebounds and a postseason career-high four steals in Game 1. Ionescu added three three-pointers to extend her WNBA-record streak of 80 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer (regular season and postseason combined) and tie Tangela Smith (21 games) for the third-longest such streak in WNBA postseason history. Sabrina recorded at least three three-pointers for the 12th time in her postseason career, which is the second-most such games by a player within their first five seasons.
Leonie Fiebich scored 17 points on 56% (5-9) shooting from beyond the arc while adding six rebounds and four assists. Fiebich set a WNBA record for most three-pointers in a single WNBA Finals game, and also passed Crystal Robinson for the most playoff three-pointers made by a rookie in WNBA history with her 18th three-pointer of the 2024 postseason.
Courtney Vandersloot came off the bench to score eight points with six rebounds, four assists, and a block.
LIBERTY 93 | LYNX 95 (OT)
MINNESOTA LEADS SERIES 1-0
October 10, 2024
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT1 FINAL
LYNX 19 17 25 23 11 95
LIBERTY 32 12 24 16 9 93
GAME LEADERS NEW YORK MINNESOTA
POINTS Jones (24) Williams (23)
REBOUNDS Jones (10) Smith (9)
ASSISTS Fiebich, Laney-Hamilton, Vandersloot (4) Williams (5)
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from October 11, 2024
- 2024 Player Review: Caitlin Clark - Indiana Fever
- 2024 WNBA Finals Game 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. New York Postgame Notes - Minnesota Lynx
- Liberty Edged in OT to Open Finals - New York Liberty
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
