No. 8 Liberty upset No. 1 Lynx 87-71 to reach WNBA semi-finals
The New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on Tuesday night to advance to the semi-finals, becoming the first No 8 seed to eliminate a No 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history. Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds, Breanna Stewart scored 21 and Sabrina Ionescu added 18 in the victory.
The WNBA adopted its current top-eight quarter-final format in 2022, a change that made this matchup possible; no No 8 seed had previously knocked out a No 1 over the league's three-decade existence. A year after New York lost in the first round to Phoenix after leading that series 1-0, the Liberty entered this matchup intent on avoiding a similar outcome.
New York led by five after the opening quarter and closed the second by scoring nine of the final 11 points to take a 49-37 advantage into halftime. The Liberty extended the lead to 52-39 with 6:26 remaining in the third quarter, and Minnesota could not get closer than seven points for the remainder of the game.
Late in the third quarter, Stewart drove to the basket and was struck in the face by Olivia Miles as Miles attempted to block the shot; Stewart was down for a minute while officials reviewed the play and upgraded it to a Flagrant-1 foul. As Stewart left the court she raised her hands to the sellout crowd of 17,593, who chanted "M-V-P," and she made both free throws.
Jonquel Jones finished with a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds, Stewart scored 21 and Ionescu had 18. For the Lynx, Courtney Williams led with 18 points and Napheesa Collier had 14, and Minnesota — which posted the best regular-season record — exited the playoffs at the quarter-final stage.
“I feel like we had an advantage in our size against them, and I wanted to make my impact early,” the 6ft 6in Jones said after the game. “If a shot is going up I felt like I had to be in the paint and set the tone for the night.”
Olivia Miles, who was named Rookie of the Year unanimously on Monday while Cheryl Reeve won Coach of the Year, struggled across the series against New York; on Tuesday she scored five points, missed seven of her eight shots in 17 minutes and was benched for most of the second half. During the regular season Miles averaged 19.8 points and 6.0 assists, and New York’s size and rim protection were cited as factors that bothered the first-year player.
New York will now await the winner of the Atlanta-Washington series; the Dream lead that matchup 1-0 and play at Washington on Wednesday night. The WNBA semi-finals begin Sunday.