By Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx stunned the New York Liberty following a historic 95-93 overtime win in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday.
It was all Liberty in the first quarter, led by power forward Jonquel Jones. She would finish with a game-high 24 points.
Jones scored 10 of New York’s 32 points as they took a 32-19 lead heading into the second quarter.
It was more of the same to start the second period after a 7-0 run to put the Liberty back up 18. The Lynx would cut into the deficit to make it a 44-36 game heading into halftime.
And the Lynx’s offense woke up coming out of halftime, making their first four shots to close the gap even further.
It was a back-and-forth game until the Liberty took control just before the end of the third quarter.
Behind Minnesota guard Kayla McBride’s 22 points, the Lynx scored 12 unanswered points to claw their way back and make it a three-point game with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter.
With the Liberty holding an 83-80 lead with about 10 seconds left, Lynx guard Courtney Williams missed a three pointer but was able to get the ball back after an offensive rebound and nailed her second attempt at a three while being fouled by Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu. Williams would make the ensuing free throw to give Minnesota an 84-83 lead, its first of the game.
She would finish with a team-high 23 points.
New York had one more chance to try to take an early series lead and put the ball in star forward Breanna Stewart’s hands. As the clock expired, Stewart was fouled under the basket, awarding the Liberty two free throws. However, she would make the first and miss the second to force overtime.
Stewart, visibly frustrated at herself, screamed as she walked back to the bench.
It was the sixth overtime game in WNBA Finals history and it did not disappoint. The Lynx jumped out to a four-point lead as the Liberty offense struggled out of the gate.
Jones came up big for the Liberty after getting a steal and hitting a layup to tie the game at 93-93 with less than 25 seconds left in the overtime period.
Lynx star Collier has been used to hitting big buckets for Minnesota throughout the regular season and postseason and on Thursday, she did it yet again.
With 8.8 seconds left and the score tied, Collier knocked down a turnaround jumper to silence the Barclays Center crowd and give Minnesota a Game 1 win.
The 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year finished with 21 points. She was asked how the team found the strength to win in overtime despite the hectic travel schedule after the semifinal win a few days ago.
“You can’t think about it,” Collier told the ESPN broadcast after the game. “It’s the Finals. No one cares you’re tired. You can’t asterisk that we had a loss because we just played so we just got to find a way to push through and not think about it.”
The Lynx’s 18-point comeback ties the 1999 Liberty for the largest comeback in WNBA Finals history.
The Liberty have never won a league championship having lost the Finals five times. The Lynx owns four Finals rings and are vying for a league-record fifth.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
