NEW YORK (AP) — Finally, the New York Liberty won the WNBA championship after defeating 67-62 in overtime in the fifth game of the Finals on Sunday night.
Jonquel Jones scored 17 points to lead New York, which was one of the original franchises in the league. The Liberty had reached the Finals five times before, losing each time, including last season. This time the championship was not denied to them, although it took an additional five minutes of play.
The victory gave New York City its first basketball title since 1973, when the Knicks won the NBA championship.
With stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu having trouble on offense, other players stepped up. Leonie Fiebich started the overtime with a three-pointer, and then Nyara Sabally stole the ball to make a layup that put the score at 65-60 and drove the crowd that filled the stadium crazy.
Minnesota did not score in overtime until Kayla McBride made two free throws with 1:51 left to play. The Lynx missed all six of their field goal attempts in the extra period. After Ionescu missed a shot with 21 seconds left, her 18th miss in 19 attempts, the Lynx had one last chance, but Bridget Carleton missed a three-pointer with 16 seconds on the clock.
Stewart, who missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in the first game of the series, made two with 10.1 seconds left to seal the victory.
As the final seconds passed, the players hugged each other and the streamers fell from the beams.
Napheesa Collier scored 22 points to lead Minnesota before fouling out with 13 seconds left in overtime.