As confetti fell and Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York blared through the arena, the New York Liberty celebrated the end of a long odyssey.
The team that always fell short, starting from their days in Madison Square Garden, through detours to Radio City Music Hall and Westchester County Center, finally found their way to the top.
Start spreading the news, indeed: There is finally a pro basketball champion in New York again after a 67-62 overtime win over Minnesota in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday night.
Photo: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / USA Today
“I’ve been manifesting this moment for a while. There’s no feeling like it,” Breanna Stewart said. “Credit to Minnesota, they gave us a tough series. The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone. To bring a championship to New York, first ever in franchise history it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city. It’s going to be bonkers.”
Jonquel Jones scored 17 points to lead New York, which was one of the original franchises in the league. The Liberty made the WNBA Finals five times before, losing each one, including last season. This time they would not be denied, although it took an extra five minutes.
With stars Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggling on offense, other players stepped up. Leonie Fiebich started off overtime with a three-pointer, and then Nyara Sabally, who finished with 13 points, had a steal for a layup to make it 65-60 and bring the sellout crowd to a frenzied state.
Photo: AP
“Whoever scores in overtime first usually wins,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.
Minnesota did not score in overtime until Kayla McBride hit two free throws with 1:51 left. The Lynx missed all six of their field goal attempts in overtime. After Ionescu missed a shot with 21 seconds left, her 18th miss on 19 shot attempts, the Lynx had one last chance, but Bridget Carleton missed a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left.
Stewart, who missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in the end of regulation in Game 1, hit two free throws with 10.1 seconds left in overtime to seal the victory.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock the players hugged and streamers fell from the rafters at Barclays Center. Stewart and Jones hugged. The two prize free agent signees two years ago 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. Minnesota had challenged the foul call and after the game coach Cheryl Reeve still questioned it, saying the title was stolen from her team.
McBride, who finished with 21 points, had an open look for a 3, but it fell off the rim and the game went to overtime.
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 most valuable player 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 overtime.
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 to 2017 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,” Reeve said. “It took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth, it just didn’t happen.”
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS