Credits: NBA/X
The New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx to win their first WNBA Championship. The New York took down their rivals with scoreline of 67-62 in overtime during Game 5 of the finals on Sunday, October 21. The final saw MVP Jonquel Jones scoring 17 points to help the side take a dominating lead over the rivals. The Liberty made it to the finals of the WNBA five times before but they lost each one of them, including the last-season final as well. The WNBA Championship is New York’s first ever-basketball title since 1973. During the year, the Knicks won the NBA Championship.
The game got off to an unfavourable start for the Liberty as Minnesota took control of the game and their rivals remained scoreless for the first five minutes. Jonquel Jones found basketball for the first time for Liberty when the scoreboard read 6-0 in favour of the Lynx. Minnesota continued their dominance with Napheesa Collier and Alana Smith leading the charge, and ended the first quarter up 19-10.
Drama unfolds in second half leading to overtime
While the game had always been in the favour of the Lynx in the first half, momentum started dramatically in the second half of the game. Though Minnesota continued making an effort, New York managed to hold their nerves and entered the final quarter with 47-44. In the final quarter, Minnesota regained a 50-49 lead with only five minutes remaining on the clock. However, Liberty came up with critical gameplay and Collier’s heroics to send the game into overtime with 60-60.
In the overtime, Leonie Fiebich came up with a three-pointer and Nyara Sabally added another basket taking the overall score to 65-60. In the final seconds, Napheesa Collier committed a foul, which sent Breanna Stewart to the free-throw line where she sank two shots and sealed the deal with 67-62.
