MINNEAPOLIS – The last time the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx took the court in a WNBA game was October, when the Liberty defeated the Lynx 67-62 in overtime to win the best-of-five WNBA Finals series and win the 2024 championship on their home court.
It was a game that the Lynx players, fans and coaches had never forgotten. In what turned out to be the first of four matchups over the next seven games for the Lynx, Minnesota shot down the defending champions 100-93 in front of 10,824 at Target Center on Wednesday.
The Liberty opened the scoring with a jump shot by guard Sabrina Ionescu for the 2-0 lead. Lynx forward Napheesa Collier answered with a three-pointer to give the home team the 3-2 lead, but layups by Liberty center Jonquel Jones and forward Marine Johannes put New York out in front 6-3. Minnesota forward Alanna Smith tied the score with a three-pointer, but that was negated by one from Johannes. New York guard Natasha Cloud’s layup put the Liberty up 11-6 when the Lynx called a time out with 6:44 left in the opening quarter.
Minnesota regrouped during the timeout. Collier made a turnaround jump shot to cut the deficit to three points and Smith made a layup to made it an 11-10 game.
A Jones three-pointer and Ionescu layup quickly pushed the lead back up to six-points for the visitors. Ionescu fouled Collier, who made one of two free throws. But Johannes then made another three-pointer and it was now 1911 in favor of New York with 4:36 left in the first quarter.
However, the Lynx defense kicked in, which allowed them to go on an 11-3 run as Smith made a layup, forward Jessica Shepard made her way to the basket for three layups including a put back layup on her own miss, and guard Courtney Williams laid a block on a shot by Liberty guard Rebekah Gardner. Lynx guard Kayla McBride hit a three-pointer to tie the game 22-22 with 50.1 seconds on the clock, which forced a New York timeout.
Liberty forward Stephanie Talbot and Lynx guard Natisha Hiedeman each scored baskets during the remainder of the quarter, which ended in a 24-24 tie. The Liberty shot 62.5 percent and the Lynx hit 52.6 percent in the opening quarter.
The second quarter featured players who stepped up individually for both teams, starting with McBride. She opened the scoring with a layup and a three-pointer to put the Lynx up by five, 29-24. Then came Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison who scored two layups to make it 29-28 with 8:08 left until halftime.
Minnesota forward Bridget Carleton made a three-pointer and a free throw, but so did Cloud for New York. Jones made a layup, Collier answered with a jump shot. Smith made a three-pointer and a running layup for Minnesota, Ionescu connected on two jump shots for the Liberty. Like two heavyweight gladiators offering each other a punch, followed by a counterpunch, each trying to find an advantage but coming up empty.
The Lynx held the 40-38 advantage with 3:31 left until halftime when Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich fouled Collier, who made both free throws. Cloud responded with a layup. Collier answered with a jump shot. Cloud made another layup. Collier answered with one of her own. Then Collier added another layup and a three-pointer to finish the quarter on a personal 11-4 run. Minnesota led 51-42 at halftime.
Minnesota now had the task of staying one step ahead of the Liberty in the second half if they were going to emerge victorious, which is a tough task under any circumstance.
They started with a layup from Collier. A Johannes three-pointer brought the Liberty deficit back to single digits. A Collier layup brought the Lynx lead to nine points, but a Fiebich layup made it 54-47 in favor of the Lynx with 7:28 left in the third quarter.
Neither team scored for the next minute and a half until Courtney Williams unleashed a three-pointer to put Minnesota back up by ten points. Ionescu’s layup cut the deficit to eight points. A McBride jump shot gave Minnesota the 59-49 lead midway through the quarter.
After Fiebich made two free throws, Minnesota went on a 9-4 run with two three-pointers from McBride, a layup from Shepard and a free throw from Courtney Williams, while Ionescu made two free throws and Harrison scored on a layup. Minnesota led 68-55 with 1:47 left in the third quarter. However, a layup from Harrison, a three pointer from Ionescu, a Lynx shot clock violation turnover and a Fiebich layup with 1.6 seconds left, enabled the Liberty to close out on a 7-0 run to cut into the Lynx lead. Minnesota led 68-62 at the end of three quarters.
The start of the fourth quarter brought Hiedeman and Harrison to the forefront. Hiedeman started with a three-pointer for the Lynx. Then Harrison converted one of two free throws after getting fouled by Minnesota forward Diamond Miller. Hiedeman made another three-pointer but this time Harrison answered with a layup. Hiedeman made a fast break layup of her own, but then fouled Ionescu who was in the process of shooting a three-pointer. The Liberty guard made only one of her three free throw attempts, and the Lynx led 76-66 with 7:30 remaining on the clock.
Then it was Bridget Carleton and Sabrina Ionescu. Carleton hit a three-pointer to extend the Lynx lead but Ionescu made a layup and a free throw after getting fouled by Hiedeman, keeping the margin at ten. Collier hit a jump shot and Carleton made another three-ball to make the score 84-69 with 5:37 left on in the fourth quarter.
It was getting harder for New York to find the opportunity to get back into the game when every score was answered by one from Minnesota. Ionescu made a layup but so did Collier. Jones made a layup, but McBride made a jump shot. Cloud made two free throws, but Collier made one free throw in two attempts. Harrison makes a layup, McBride hits a three-pointer.
Then the Liberty struck. Jones hit a three-pointer. Ionescu made a three-pointer. Minnesota called timeout. Johannes made a three-pointer. Harrison made a layup. Minnesota hung on to a 92-88 lead with 1:03 left after New York went on a 11-0 run in less than two minutes time.
Collier made a layup and free throw after getting fouled by Harrison, then Courtney Williams made two free throws after getting fouled by Cloud. Minnesota led 97-88 with 45.2 second left as New York used a reset timeout.
Ionescu hit a three-pointer with 40.1 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game, but McBride made three of four free throws to push the score to 100-91 to put the game out of reach. Ionescu was fouled by Alanna Smith with 15.4 seconds left. The two free throws by the Liberty guard were the game’s final two points and Minnesota won 100-93.
Minnesota went 36-for-73 (49.3 percent) from the field; 15-for-31 (48.4 percent) from three point range; and 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the free throw line. They committed 11 turnovers for 11 Liberty points.
“They were a handful. Luckily we were able to score a little more than them. If the game went a little bit longer, that may not have been the case,” said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve. “[Giving up] 31 point fourth quarter, not ideal, but we found a way to win, and it’s a good win.”
“Winning in this league is not easy to do. Every win, regardless of who plays or who doesn’t play, and that sort of thing, winning any game is hard, so it’s a good win for us,” she added.
New York went 35-for-72 (48.6 percent) from the field; 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from three point range; and 13-for-18 (72.2 percent) from the charity stripe. They turned the ball over nine times leading to 14 Lynx points.
“We were better in our pick and rolls. We weren’t getting beat on those short rolls as much in the second half, so we took away some switches. They made some big shots. It was more on the offensive rebounding,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. “If we could have just gotten some offensive rebounds. They had 15 three’s. When you have 20 points off offensive rebounds, it’s a long night, so you miss those off the rebounding.”
“But I thought our defense got better. But two elite teams going at each other. There’s some good things we need to work on, but other things that, I wasn’t real happy with but still, a hundred points is a lot. We just got to keep staying connected,” Brondello added.
New York led 44-36 in the points-in-the-paint category while Minnesota led 20-3 in second chance points and 14-9 in fast break points. The teams tied 18-18 in bench scoring. There were three ties and nine lead changes. New York’s largest lead was 8 points, while Minnesota’s was 15.
“I don’t think it can be anything other than two teams that met in the Finals and you’re playing for the first time, so exactly what you’d expect,” said Reeve. “Regardless of what was playing for them. Regardless of how far into the season it was. Last time we saw each other, they were in confetti. We were not,” said Reeve.
The Lynx were led by 30 points from Napheesa Collier. Kayla McBride added 24 points; Alanna Smith pitched in for 12 points; Bridget Carleton and Natisha Hiedeman both added 10 points each. Courtney Williams and Collier pulled down a team high nine rebounds, while Williams dished a game-high 13 assists.
“They’re still a great basketball team. They have great basketball players, ones who can make really great shots,” said Collier when asked if she was concerned about the Liberty run late in the fourth quarter. “Sabrina [Ionescu] got on a burner at the end and she got a lot of her points in the second half in the fourth quarter. I don’t think it concerns us. More than anything, it’s great to show our resilience once again.”
“They’re a really great team. They’re going to do that. But the fact that we could hold them off and still win the game, I think that tells a lot about us as well,” Collier added.
The Liberty were led by 31 points from Sabrina Ionescu. Isabelle Harrison scored 15 points; Marine Johannes added 14; Jonquel Jones and Natasha Cloud each scored 12 points. Jones led the Liberty in rebounding with seven boards while Cloud dished seven assists to pace her team.
“If there’s ever a good loss, this is one of those losses you can live with. We came out and competed for 40 minutes. Everyone played as hard as they could,” said Ionescu. “I’m just really proud of the way that we were able to fight back. That’s the standard we have to come out with every night… We got back to playing Liberty basketball and now we need to do this every single night.”
The New York Liberty (17-9) travels to Connecticut to take on the Sun (4-21) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday night. Minnesota (23-5) travels to Las Vegas for a 2 p.m. CT game against the Aces (14-13) on Saturday afternoon.
