NEW YORK (AP) — Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the No. 8 seed New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series Tuesday night and advanced to the semifinal round.
Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history. The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats. And in many of the formats, it wasn’t possible for those seeds to match up. However, in 2022 the league changed to the current format in which the top eight teams play in the quarterfinals.
Now, New York awaits the winner of the Atlanta-Washington series. The Dream are up 1-0 and play at Washington on Wednesday night. The semifinals begin Sunday.
A year after losing in the first round to Phoenix after going up 1-0 in that series, New York was determined not to have that happen again.
The Liberty were up five points after one quarter and led 40-35 with 2:39 left in the half. New York scored nine of the final 11 points in the second quarter to go up 49-37 at the break.
New York was up 52-39 with 6:26 left in the third when Stewart drove to the basket and was hit in the face by Miles as she tried to block the shot. Stewart was down for a minute as the officials reviewed the play and upgraded the play to a Flagrant-1 foul.
As Stewart walked off the court, she raised her hands to the sellout crowd of 17,593, who serenaded her with M-V-P! chants. Stewart hit both free throws.
Minnesota couldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The Lynx’s season ended in disappointment again. The Lynx had the best regular-season record, but just couldn’t put it together against New York. On Monday, Cheryl Reeve won the league’s Coach of the Year and Olivia Miles was a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.
Miles struggled in both games against New York. She had five points, missing seven of her eight shots in 17 minutes, on Tuesday night. The Liberty’s size and ability to protect the rim bothered the stellar first-year player.
Courtney Williams scored 18 points and Napheesa Collier added 14 to lead the Lynx.
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Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press
