New York Liberty win first WNBA championship, beating Lynx in OT

As the final seconds ticked off the clock the players hugged and streamers fell from the rafters. Stewart and Jones hugged. The two prize free agent signees two years ago that helped get this team its first title.

New York trailed by two in regulation when Stewart was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. After a lengthy video review, Stewart calmly hit two free throws to tie the game at 60.

Kayla McBride, who finished with 21 points, had an open look for a 3, but it fell off the rim and the game went to OT.

Many of the former Liberty greats were in the audience, including Teresa Weatherspoon, who hit a half-court heave in the 1999 WNBA Finals to force a decisive Game 3 that year. That was the last time that New York had a chance to play in a championship-deciding game until this year.

Jones, who was the only player on the Liberty to compete in a Game 5 before when she was with Connecticut in 2019, earned MVP honors.

“I could never dream of this. You know how many times I’ve been denied. It was delayed. I am so happy to do it here,” she said.

Napheesa Collier scored 22 points to lead Minnesota before fouling out with 13 seconds left in OT.

The Lynx were trying for a record fifth WNBA title, breaking a tie with the Seattle Storm and Houston Comets. Minnesota won four titles from 2011-17 behind the core group of Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore. That was the team’s last appearance in the WNBA Finals until this year.

“Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “It took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth, it just didn’t happen.”

This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone the distance. Since the league switched to a best-of-five format in 2005, seven other series have gone to a Game 5 and the home team had won five of those previous contests, including in 2019.

This series has been a fitting conclusion to a record-breaking season for the league. All five games came down to the last few possessions and have included two overtime games and a last-second shot, which have led to record ratings.

The first three games each had over a million viewers on average, with the audience growing for each contest. They also have had huge crowds in attendance.

Liberty fan Spike Lee was courtside over an hour before tipoff chatting with the media while wearing his Ionescu jersey. Once Ionescu finished warming up pregame, the pair had a brief exchange and hugged. Lee was part of a sellout crowd of 18,090 that helped this series set both the overall attendance record for a WNBA Finals as well as the average attendance mark.