New York Liberty Win First WNBA Championship

NEW YORK -- — 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’s 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.

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“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, the 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, one of the league's original franchises. The Liberty made the WNBA Finals five times before, losing each one, including last season. They wouldn’t be denied this time, although it took an extra five minutes.

With stars Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggling on offense, other players stepped up. Leonie Fiebich started OT with a 3-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.

Minnesota didn’t score in OT until Kayla McBride hit two free throws with 1:51 left. The Lynx missed all six of their field goal attempts in overtime.

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

This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone the distance.