Breanna Stewart Helps New York Even WNBA Finals Series

NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart wasn't going to let history repeat itself. With the Minnesota Lynx making another fourth-quarter run, the two-time league MVP refused to let the New York Liberty lose again.

Just like Game 1, New York built a double-digit lead in the first half, only to see it evaporate. This time they didn’t completely collapse, holding on to even the series 1-1 as it shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

Minnesota was down nine early in the fourth before getting within 68-66 on Courtney Williams' layup with 3:40 left in the game. Those were the last points Minnesota would score. 

“Our offense was bad at a time when we needed it. Our pace was slow," Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Taking too long to get into things, and you know, I don’t think we were hard to play against from that standpoint. And that was a difficult time to be doing that.” 

New York clamped down defensively and converted offensively. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton started the game-closing 12-0 run with a 3-pointer in the corner.  

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Stewart's putback with 57 seconds left gave New York a double-digit advantage. She missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in regulation of Game 1 that would have lifted New York to victory in that contest. 

Laney-Hamilton finished with 20 points, hitting key shots for the team throughout the game as well as being a defensive stopper. She missed more than a month after injuring her right knee before the Olympic break. She's still been working her way back.

With the win, New York avoided going down 0-2 and having to pull off a historic comeback. All 20 teams that had been down 0-2 in the best-of-five Finals had lost the series.

Napheesa Collier had 16 points and Williams added 15 for the Lynx.