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WNBA New York Liberty

Liberty Fend off Minnesota in OT for First WNBA Title

October 21, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release


On Sunday, the New York Liberty (3-2) defeated the Minnesota Lynx (2-3), 67-62, in overtime to clinch the first WNBA Championship in franchise history.

Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart became the first and second players since 2012 to win an Olympic Gold Medal for 5v5 Basketball along with a WNBA Championship in the same season.

Sandy Brondello passed Richie Adubato for the most coaching wins in Liberty postseason history (15).

The Liberty's reserves outscored Minnesota's bench 15-6 in the victory.

New York came back from a 12-point deficit after missing the team's first 15 three-pointers to win Game 5, marking the first time in WNBA postseason history that a team won a winner-take-all game after missing 10 or more three-pointers to begin the game.

Up Next: The New York Liberty will host 2024 championship celebrations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with more details announced on Monday, October 21.

KEY RUNS

Q1: Minnesota went on a 14-6 run from the 2:01 mark of the first to the 7:26 mark of the second quarter.

Q2: New York went on an 8-0 run from the 0:34 mark of the second to the 8:34 mark of the third quarter.

Q3: New York went on a 14-6 run from the 4:02 mark of the third to the 0:28 mark of the third quarter.

PLAYER NOTABLES

2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones led the Liberty offense with 17 points, six rebounds and an assist on 50% (5-10) shooting from the field. Jones converted on her first three attempts from the field and scored a team-high 10 points in the first half. Jonquel passed Maya Moore for third on the WNBA's all-time Finals rebounding list (165) and surpassed Sylvia Fowles for the third-most field goals made in Finals history (122). Jones finished the game shooting a perfect 100% (7-7) from the free-throw line.

Leonie Fiebich scored 13 points with seven rebounds and two steals as she passed Briann January for the most points by a rookie in WNBA Finals history (65). Leonie made her 25th three-pointer of the 2024 postseason to become the third-fastest player in WNBA history to reach 25 postseason three-pointers (11 games), behind Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionescu. Fiebich finished the postseason with the second-highest eFG% (69.3%) in WNBA postseason history (min. 50 attempts), only behind Chelsea Gray in 2022, while also becoming the second player all-time to shoot better than 50% on more than 40 three-point attempts in a single postseason.

Breanna Stewart recorded her second consecutive double-double in Game 5 with 13 points and 15 rebounds, tying her postseason career high and matching the Liberty franchise record for rebounds in a single Finals game. Stewart added four assists, three blocks, and a steal while making two free throws to tie the game with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. This marked Breanna's 43rd consecutive playoff game with at least 10 points, which is the longest such streak in WNBA postseason history.

Nyara Sabally recorded a career-high 13 points with seven rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. Sabally converted on her first four attempts from the field in Game 5 and became the fifth player in Liberty Finals history to score in double figures off the bench.

Sabrina Ionescu finished with five points, seven rebounds, and a game-high eight assists while making the Liberty's first three-pointer of the night with 3:10 remaining in regulation to set a franchise record for three-pointers made in a single postseason (29). Ionescu passed Vickie Johnson (121) for second on the Liberty's all-time postseason assists list while surpassing Teresa Weatherspoon (43) for the most assists in Liberty Finals history. Sabrina also passed Vickie Johnson for the most rebounds by a Liberty guard in WNBA Finals history (41).

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton scored four points with two steals in the win as she passed Tamika Whitmore for seventh on the Liberty's all-time postseason scoring list (288).

Courtney Vandersloot became the second player in WNBA history to reach 100 career assists in the Finals, joining Lindsay Whalen.

LIBERTY 67 | LYNX 62

NEW YORK WINS SERIES 3-2

October 20, 2024

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT1 FINAL

LYNX 19 15 10 16 2 62

LIBERTY 10 17 20 13 7 67

GAME LEADERS NEW YORK MINNESOTA

POINTS Jones (17) Collier (22)

REBOUNDS Stewart (15) Smith (8)

ASSISTS Ionescu (8) McBride (7)

Check out the New York Liberty Statistics

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