NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� As confetti fell and Frank Sinatra鈥檚 鈥淣ew York, New York鈥� blared through the arena, the New York Liberty celebrated the end of a 27-year 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淚鈥檝e been manifesting this moment for awhile, There鈥檚 no feeling like it,鈥� Breanna Stewart said. 鈥淐redit to Minnesota, they gave us a tough series. The fans have been amazing everywhere we鈥檝e gone. To bring a championship to New York, first ever in franchise history it鈥檚 an incredible feeling. I can鈥檛 wait to continue to celebrate with the city. It鈥檚 going to be bonkers.鈥�
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, . This time they wouldn鈥檛 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 OT with a 3-pointer, and then Nyara Sabally had a steal for a layup to make it 65-60 and bring the sellout crowd to a frenzied state.
鈥淲hoever scores in overtime first usually wins,鈥� Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.
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 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.
McBride, who finished with 21 points, had an open look for a 3, but it fell off the rim and the game went to OT.
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 sa国际传媒icut in 2019, .
鈥淚 could never dream of this. You know how many times I鈥檝e been denied. It was delayed. I am so happy to do it here,鈥� she said.
scored 22 points to lead Minnesota before fouling out with 13 seconds left in OT.
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 2011-17 behind the core group of Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore. That was the team鈥檚 last appearance in the WNBA Finals until this year.
鈥淐ongratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,鈥� Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. 鈥淚t took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth, it just didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�
This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone the distance. Since the league switched to a best-of-five format in 2005, seven other series have gone to a Game 5 and the home team had won five of those previous contests, including in 2019.
This series has been a fitting conclusion to a record-breaking season for the league. All five games came down to the last few possessions and have included two overtime games and a , which have led to record ratings.
The first three games each had over a million viewers on average, with the audience growing for each contest. They also have had huge crowds in attendance.
Liberty fan Spike Lee was courtside over an hour before tipoff chatting with the media while wearing his Ionescu jersey. Once Ionescu finished warming up pregame, the pair had a brief exchange and hugged. Lee was part of a sellout crowd of 18,090 that helped this series set both the overall attendance record for a WNBA Finals as well as the average attendance mark.
___
AP WNBA:
Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
