Sunday, October 20 New York Liberty 67-62 Minnesota The New York Liberty won their first Women National Basketball Association (WNBA) title in franchise history following Sunday night’s 67-62 overtime win over Minnesota Lynx in finals Game 5 at Barclays Center. Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggled throughout the victory, but their teammates rose to the occasion and took the lead when they needed them most. And now Stewart, a two-time MVP (2018 and 2023) and former Rookie of the Year Award winner (2016), is now a three-time WNBA champion, earning her first title with the Liberty after winning two championships with the Seattle Storm (2018 and 2020) before joining New York ahead of the 2023 season and re-signing with the team earlier in 2024. With the Liberty taking home their first WNBA title, they join NJ/NY Gotham FC (2023) and New York City FC (2021) as the most recent professional’s sports franchises to win a championship in the New Jersey/New York area. In the winner-take-all Game 5, the Liberty were able to defeat Minnesota and head coach Cheryl Reeve, who was aiming to become the first WNBA coach in history with five championships under her belt in her league-leading seventh appearance as a head coach in the WNBA finals. Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello earned her second WNBA championship as a coach, a decade after winning his first title with Phoenix Mercury in 2014. Brondello, a former WNBL MVP and two-time WNBL All-Star -- now has 39 career postseason wins as a head coach. She passed NBA legend Bill Laimbeer for second most all-time playoff wins in WNBA history earlier in the WNBA Finals.
