Liberty hold on to beat Minnesota Lynx in WNBA Finals Game 2 as Breanna Stewart and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton come up big

The Liberty had made the wrong kind of league history, throwing away a 15-point cushion with five minutes left in regulation on the way to losing Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Now, after their overtime loss in that game, they needed to rebound in more ways than one in Game 2 on Sunday.

And they’re indeed back in play for a first championship.

The top-seeded Liberty, who owned an 18-point lead in the second quarter in Game 1, built a 17-point lead in the second quarter in Game 2. This time they didn’t throw it all away against the second-seeded Lynx, just most of it.

Minnesota cut its deficit to two three times in the fourth quarter, but the Liberty didn’t crumble again at the end. In fact, they went on a game-closing 12-0 run and walked away with an 80-66 win in front of 18,046, a franchise record at Barclays Center.

“It does everything,” Jonquel Jones said of this victory after contributing 14 points and nine rebounds. “I feel like you go 0-2 in a series . . . nobody has ever come back from that. So it’s really important. But now we go to Minnesota. It’s tied up and you go [Wednesday night] and play the crucial Game 3.”

With a chance to win Game 1, Breanna Stewart had missed a free throw with eight-tenths of a second remaining in regulation. But the two-time MVP rebounded with 21 points, eight boards, a Finals-record seven steals and five assists and also helped hold 2024 MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier to 16 points.

“I think that the moment the game ended Thursday night, I was looking forward to Sunday,” Stewart said, “just to be able to kind of change things, change the narrative a little bit and know that I’m going to come out and . . . be obviously better.”

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was better, too. She had been struggling to play on a right knee that needed a surgical repair job on July 16. Laney-Hamilton was averaging only 5.9 points in the postseason and didn’t move well in Game 1, but she delivered a season high-tying 20 points in Game 2.

“To see a glimpse of what I’m capable of felt really good,” said Laney-Hamilton, who hit four three-pointers.

Courtney Vandersloot drilled a three-pointer to give the Liberty a 64-55 lead 1:30 into the fourth quarter, but soon it was down to two at 64-62, and again at 66-64, and again at 68-66 on Courtney Williams’ layup with 3:40 to go.

“We felt like we kind of learned our lesson and we were going to do things differently,” Vandersloot said.

The Liberty stepped forward at both ends.

Laney-Hamilton launched the finishing burst, nailing a three-pointer from the left corner to make it a five-point game with 3:21 left.

“She’s digging deep, and that’s what we needed,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “ . . . She’s been struggling, but she’s been feeling good these last few days.”

Stewart made a free throw for a six-point lead with 2:31 left.

Nearly a minute later, Stewart was on Williams in the frontcourt, and Williams lost the ball off her foot. It rolled down the court, and rookie Leonie Fiebich picked it up and hit an open three-pointer for her first and only points of the game — 75-66, Liberty, 1:30 left.

“A three-point shot is a layup for her,” Brondello said.

The Lynx went 0-for-5 with three turnovers after Williams’ layup. “We’re really disappointed, I think, in how we played today, but excited to go home and play in front of our crowd,” Collier said. “We have to respond.”

The Liberty sizzled with 72.2% shooting in the first quarter. Sabrina Ionescu scored 12 of her 15 points, and they owned a 31-21 advantage. When Laney-Hamilton hit a three-pointer, the lead expanded to 46-29.

The Liberty led 49-39 at halftime and 61-53 after three quarters, and they refused to let go of their edge.

“I think what was on their collective minds was it’s a must-win game for them,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “They came out and they played like it was, and they took the game.”