New York pulled off the unthinkable, sweeping Minnesota with last night’s 87-71 Lynx vs Liberty win to become the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in WNBA playoffs history.
The Liberty led from the jump, opening on a 15-5 run and pushing the lead to 14 by halftime. Then, red-hot guard Sabrina Ionescu drilled a dagger 3-pointer to close the third quarter and snuff out the lone Lynx rally.
Jonquel Jones paced New York with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Meanwhile Breanna Stewart added 21 points, and Ionescu chipped in 18 points and seven assists.
The upset is doubly historic, as no eighth seed has ever won a single game since the current playoff format was adopted in 2022 — let alone a series.
The loss stings for a Minnesota team that went 33-10 behind Rookie of the Year Olivia Miles and Coach of the Year Cheryl Reeve, as the Lynx led for just three minutes across the entire two-game span.
“We became a great regular-season team this year,” Reeve said postgame. “And we ran into the wrong team.”
The Liberty now awaits either No. 4 Atlanta or No. 6 Washington in the best-of-five semifinals, set to tip off Sunday.
