New York Liberty have eliminated the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx from the WNBA play-offs, winning 87-71 in Game 2 to reach the semi-finals and complete an unprecedented eighth-seed upset.
The Liberty, the No 8 seed, became the first No 8 team to knock out a No 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history. The distinction comes in a competition that has used several different post-season systems: the present format, in which the top eight teams enter the quarter-finals, was introduced in 2022 and made a first-versus-eighth match-up possible.
Jonquel Jones led New York with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Breanna Stewart also scored 21 and Sabrina Ionescu contributed 18. Their combined production carried the Liberty past a Minnesota side which had finished with the WNBA’s best regular-season record.
New York will play the winner of the Atlanta Dream and Washington series in the semi-finals. Atlanta held a 1-0 lead in that series when the Liberty secured their place.
Liberty establish control before half-time
The Liberty were five points ahead after the first quarter and made their decisive move late in the second. They scored nine of the final 11 points before the interval to take a 49-37 lead into half-time.
New York led 52-39 with 6:26 left in the third quarter and Minnesota did not get closer than seven points thereafter. Stewart drove to the basket and was fouled by Olivia Miles on a block attempt. Officials reviewed the incident and upgraded it to a Flagrant-1 foul, with Stewart making both free throws.
The Lynx did not reduce the gap below seven points for the remainder of the game. New York’s control inside was especially important, with Jones saying afterwards that the Liberty believed their size gave them an advantage and that she had aimed to establish a presence in the paint early.
Jones’s 13 rebounds added a second major contribution to her 21 points as New York established its advantage around the basket. Stewart and Ionescu ensured Minnesota could not focus solely on Jones, while the Liberty’s 49 first-half points created a platform they maintained after the interval. The result meant Minnesota had to chase the game for much of the night, but the Lynx were unable to produce the sustained scoring run required to overhaul New York’s lead.
That physical edge also affected Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles. The unanimous Rookie of the Year scored five points, making one of eight attempts, in 17 minutes. She spent much of the second half on the bench as New York’s size and rim protection troubled her.
Minnesota’s leading regular season ends early
The result brought a disappointing end to a Lynx campaign that had delivered the league’s best regular-season record. It came shortly after head coach Cheryl Reeve was named Coach of the Year and Miles received the Rookie of the Year award unanimously.
Minnesota were led in Game 2 by Courtney Williams with 18 points, while Napheesa Collier added 14, but neither total was enough to overturn the Liberty’s balanced scoring and early lead. Miles had averaged 19.8 points and 6.0 assists during the regular season, yet struggled across the two games against New York.
Reeve said her team had expected the play-offs to be difficult irrespective of their first-round opponent, while suggesting that Minnesota needed a more favourable match-up to reproduce some of the approaches that had worked during the regular season. Her assessment underlined the contrast between the Lynx’s regular-season standing and their abrupt exit.
For New York, the victory avoids a repeat of the previous year’s first-round defeat to Phoenix after the Liberty had taken a 1-0 series lead. More immediately, it sends the lowest seed remaining in the bracket into the semi-finals after a result that changed the limits of what an eighth seed has achieved under the WNBA’s current play-off structure.