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WNBA New York Liberty

Liberty Evens WNBA Finals with 80-66 Game Two Victory

October 13, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release


On Sunday, the New York Liberty (1-1) took down the Minnesota Lynx (1-1), 80-66, in Game 2 of the 2024 WNBA Finals in front of a sellout crowd of 18,046 fans, an all-time Liberty record for attendance at Barclays Center.

The Liberty defense began the game with steals on Minnesota's first two possessions in the opening quarter and forced the Lynx, who averaged 11.6 turnovers per game this postseason entering Game 2, into 10 turnovers in each half.

New York tied a franchise Finals record for assists in a single quarter with 10 in the opening quarter of Game 2.

The Liberty went on multiple runs of 10 or more points against Minnesota after setting a WNBA record for runs of 10 or more consecutive points during the 2024 regular season (41).

For the second consecutive game, the Liberty recorded at least 10 offensive rebounds, marking the first time since 1999 that New York reached double figures in offensive rebounding during consecutive Finals games.

Up Next: The Liberty will face the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, October 16 at 8:00 PM ET at Target Center for Game 3 of the 2024 WNBA Finals.

KEY RUNS

Q1 : New York went on a 10-0 run from the 1:32 mark of the first to the 9:14 mark of the second quarter.

Q2 : New York went on a 13-2 run from the 6:48 mark of the second to the 3:21 mark of the second quarter.

Q4 : New York went on a 12-0 run from the 3:21 mark of the fourth to the 0:14 mark of the fourth quarter.

PLAYER NOTABLES

Breanna Stewart led the Liberty offense with 21 points and eight rebounds to go along with five assists and a block. Stewart set a WNBA Finals record for steals in a single game with seven, which also marked the most steals by a Liberty player in postseason history. Breanna moved into the top 10 for most points scored in WNBA Finals history and surpassed Tari Phillips (119) for third on the Liberty's all-time field goals made list. This marked her 40th consecutive playoff game with at least 10 points, which is the longest such streak in WNBA postseason history. Stewart also became the second player in WNBA Finals history, and the first Liberty player, to record at least 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals in a single WNBA Finals game.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton scored a Finals career-high 20 points on 57% (8-14) shooting from the field and 67% (4-6) shooting from beyond the arc. Betnijah converted on seven of her first eight attempts from the field against Minnesota and added two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the win. With her 10th career 15-point scoring performance with New York in the playoffs, Betnijah passed Crystal Robinson for the fourth-most 15-point games in Liberty postseason history.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 15 points with five assists, four rebounds, and two steals in Game 2. Ionescu added a pair of three-pointers to extend her WNBA-record streak of 81 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer (regular season and postseason combined) and pass Tangela Smith (21 games) for the third-longest such streak in WNBA postseason history. Sabrina, the league leader in double-digit first-quarter scoring performances this season, scored 12 points in the first quarter for the highest-scoring first quarter by a Liberty player in Finals history. Ionescu also joined Crystal Robinson as the only players in franchise history to record consecutive games with multiple steals in the WNBA Finals.

Jonquel Jones finished with 14 points and nine rebounds on 46% (6-13) shooting from the field to go along with two steals. Jonquel passed Sylvia Fowles for seventh on the WNBA's all-time postseason rebounding list (427), while also surpassing Maya Moore for the third-most offensive rebounds in WNBA Finals history (51).

LIBERTY 80 | LYNX 66

SERIES IS TIED 1-1

October 13, 2024

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FINAL

LYNX 21 18 14 13 66

LIBERTY 31 18 12 19 80

GAME LEADERS

NEW YORK MINNESOTA

POINTS Stewart (21) Collier (16)

REBOUNDS Jones (9) Collier (8)

ASSISTS Ionescu, Stewart (5) Williams (8)

Check out the New York Liberty Statistics

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