The Liberty and Las Vegas Aces were the betting favorites to reach the WNBA Finals entering this season. But a regular season below the Liberty’s stated standards and expectations — finishing 26-18 and claiming the last playoff spot — didn’t foreshadow what took place at the Barclays Center on Tuesday.
The No. 8 seed Liberty, after stunningly beating the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx 91-75 with relative dominance Sunday on the road in Game 1 of their best-of-three quarterfinal series, imposed their will again in Game 2, eliminating their shell-shocked opponent with another convincing 16-point victory — this time 87-71. It was a historic series win for the Liberty as they are now the only WNBA No. 8 seed ever to defeat a No. 1 seed in a series.
The Lynx, guided by Cheryl Reeves, and first-year sensation and New Jersey native Olivia Miles, who this week were named the 2026 WNBA Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively, will go into the offseason assessing what went wrong following a league-best 33-11 regular season mark.
One of the answers should be that the Liberty possess championship DNA. They won the franchise’s first title two seasons ago and follow the lead of the team’s superstar, forward Breanna Stewart, who is a three-time WNBA champion and, last month, was named the MVP of the FIBA World Cup as part of the United States’ gold medal squad.
Stewart was spectacular in Game 1 against the Lynx, posting 34 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two blocks. In Game 2, it was the Liberty’s 2024 WNBA Finals MVP, center Jonquel Jones, who stepped to the forefront with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Stewart registered 21 points and five rebounds, and point guard Sabrina Ionescu, a four-time WNBA All-Star, added 18 points and seven assists.
The 23-year-old Miles, from Blair Academy High School in Blairstown, New Jersey, a top league MVP candidate this season, scored just five points on 1-8 shooting after a 3-12 performance for 11 points in Game 1.
“We just wanted to come out and really set the tone at the beginning of the game and really understand how important it is that we did that,” Jones said. “I think for me it was just getting on the boards, finding ways to impact the game inside and then making sure that we were all connected defensively, and I think we did a really great job with that.”
Liberty first-year head coach Chris DeMarco found relief and satisfaction in besting the Lynx after an up-and-down regular season.
“This was a tough year for us with injuries, with a lot of other stuff going on, and I feel like we’ve been trending in the right direction for a while now,” said DeMarco, “and it doesn’t always show up in the wins and losses…. We knew we had to be at our best [at the] end of September and October, and I think we are right now,” he said.
The Liberty will next face the winner of the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics series. Atlanta was up 1-0 heading into last night’s game.
