NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty have their first WNBA championship after falling within the title spherical of their earlier 5 appearances.
An authentic franchise when the league tipped off in 1997, the Liberty have competed in a one-game, best-of-three and best-of-five format. It took somewhat further time to do it, as New York wanted 5 video games and OT to beat Minnesota.
Right here’s a have a look at their earlier appearances within the championship:
1997 misplaced to Houston in a single sport
The Liberty misplaced the inaugural championship as that they had no reply for league MVP Cynthia Cooper. She scored 14 of her 25 factors within the second half — the league performed two halves again then. The Comets used a 10-0 run to open up a decent sport. Tina Thompson added 18 factors within the 65-51 win. Kym Hampton had 13 factors and 13 rebounds to steer New York.
1999 misplaced to Houston in three video games
The 1999 Finals have been probably the most aggressive of the three conferences between Houston and New York with the Liberty forcing three video games. New York misplaced the opener at house and have been confronted with the daunting job of needing to win two video games in Houston for the title. All seemed misplaced when Thompson banked in a shot with 2.4 seconds left to provide the Comets a 67-65 lead. Teresa Weatherspoon took the inbounds move and dribbled to halfcourt and heaved the ball up, banking it in on the buzzer to even the best-of-three collection with Houston. The Liberty misplaced to the Comets by 12 factors lower than 24 hours later within the deciding sport.
2000 misplaced to Houston in two video games
The third time wasn’t the appeal for the Liberty, falling to Houston for the third time in 4 years. The Liberty misplaced the opener at house, getting behind early. They have been down 29-22 on the break after which 10 early within the second half earlier than reducing it to 52-50 on two free throws by Weatherspoon with 52 seconds left. Sadly, Cooper answered with a three-point play 26 seconds later. New York gave all of it it had in Sport 2 earlier than falling in additional time. The back-and-forth sport noticed New York main 64-61 with 21 seconds left earlier than Cooper hit a game-tying 3-pointer. In additional time, Sue Wicks hit a 3-pointer with 2:14 left to provide New York a 70-69 lead earlier than Houston scored 10 of the ultimate 13 factors to seal the title.
2002 misplaced to Los Angeles in two video games
New York misplaced Sport 1 at house regardless of 18 factors from Becky Hammon. In Sport 2, the sport was tied with 2.1 seconds left earlier than Nikki Teasley hit a 3-pointer to provide the Sparks the lead. Weatherspoon tried to hit one other halfcourt shot on the buzzer, however her shot was blocked and the Sparks received their second consecutive title, a feat that wouldn’t be matched till the Las Vegas Aces did it in 2022 and 2023.
2023 misplaced to Las Vegas in 4 video games
Set the muse for this yr’s championship. The Liberty began on the highway, dropping the primary two video games to Las Vegas earlier than returning house. They received the third sport and it seemed just like the tide had turned of their favor with accidents to Chelsea Grey and Kiah Stokes. New York was down 70-64 with 1:27 left earlier than rallying to inside one. They couldn’t recover from the hump.
