This truly was 28 years in the making.
The New York Liberty finally won their first WNBA championship in a 67-62 Game 5 overtime win last Sunday. Led by Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, the Liberty took every punch the Minnesota Lynx threw at them and reached the WNBA mountaintop. Game 5 capped off one of the best Finals in WNBA history and lived up to the hype going in. Now it’s time to re-live the moments that led to victory.
Starting Slow
In the first quarter, the Liberty showed some nerves, getting off to a slow start as they trailed by nine after the first 10 minutes.
Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier led the charge for the Lynx. The 2024 Defensive Player of the Year finished with a game-high 22 points on 11 of 23 shooting. In the second quarter, the Liberty started finding their game. The turnaround was led by Jones and Leonie Fiebich.
In a game where Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggled, the Liberty flexed their depth. It’s games like this that go back to what the Liberty struggled with in last year’s finals. General Manager Jonathan Kolb made it a point to make this team stronger and deeper in every aspect. Adding Fiebich was just one of several great examples of Kolb finding that perfect depth and strength.
Turning the tide
The Liberty came out rolling in the third quarter. Their defense stepped up and turned several takeaways into points.
Nyara Sabally stepped up in this way tremendously. In her first full year in the WNBA, the German product came in and developed into an invaluable bench spark. She finished Game 5 with 13 points on 5-7 shooting, seven boards, a steal, and a block. New York outscored the Lynx 20-10 in the third quarter and set up a dramatic final 10 minutes.
The glory
It was back and forth and within the final minutes while Minnesota built a five-point lead.
The Liberty fought back and got the deficit down to two with 6.3 seconds left in the game. It felt like Deja vu for many Liberty fans from how last year’s Finals ended. Stewart got the ball and drew what will be considered a controversial call for years to come. The Liberty superstar knocked down both free throws and sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, New York took over and never looked back. Their defense stepped up and held the Lynx to just two points in the final five minutes. The Liberty only needed seven points and once the clock hit triple zeros, New York finally had its first WNBA Championship.
This title is also the first basketball championship for New York since the Knicks’ 1973 ring. It was the culmination of the last 4-5 years of excellent team-building, coaching, and execution. Now only one question remains: Can they run it back?
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