The WNBA’s best regular-season team lasted only two playoff games.
The eighth-seeded New York Liberty completed a stunning first-round sweep of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx with an 87–71 victory Tuesday night, turning a 33-win favorite into the first No. 1 seed ever eliminated by a No. 8 seed in league history.
New York did not steal the deciding game at the buzzer. The Liberty controlled it, led by double-digit margins for much of the second half and never allowed Minnesota closer than seven points down the stretch.
Jonquel Jones set the tone
Jonquel Jones supplied the force inside, finishing with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Breanna Stewart added 21 points, while Sabrina Ionescu scored 18 as New York’s veteran stars overwhelmed a Minnesota team that had spent months at the top of the standings.
According to the official WNBA recap, the Liberty closed the first half by scoring nine of the final 11 points to take a 49–37 lead into the locker room.
The decisive stretch continued in the third quarter. With New York ahead 52–39, Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles was assessed a Flagrant-1 foul after hitting Stewart in the face while trying to block a drive. Stewart made both free throws as the sellout Barclays Center crowd of 17,593 chanted “MVP.”
Minnesota never mounted the comeback it needed.
An eighth seed with championship experience
The seed next to New York’s name did not reflect an ordinary underdog. Stewart, Jones and Ionescu formed the core of the Liberty team that won the franchise’s first championship in 2024. That experience showed throughout the series.
In Game 1, Stewart erupted for 34 points and 12 rebounds as New York won 91–75 in Minnesota. The Liberty shot efficiently, defended the paint and took home-court advantage away from the league’s No. 1 team immediately.
Game 2 removed any suggestion that the opener was a one-night surprise. New York again won by 16 points, completing the sweep by a combined margin of 32.
The result also answered a painful question from the previous postseason. New York had won the opening game of its 2025 first-round series against Phoenix before losing the next two. This time, the Liberty finished the job at the first opportunity.
Minnesota’s dream season ended in three days
The Lynx entered the postseason with a league-best 33–11 record and the WNBA’s Coach of the Year in Cheryl Reeve. Olivia Miles had just been named the unanimous Rookie of the Year after a record-setting first season.
None of it translated into a playoff win.
Miles struggled against New York’s length and rim protection, scoring five points in Game 2 while making one of eight shots in 17 minutes. Courtney Williams led Minnesota with 18 points, and Napheesa Collier added 14, but the Lynx never found enough offense to match New York’s three established stars.
Five months of regular-season excellence ended in a best-of-three series that lasted from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday night.
Why the upset is a WNBA first
The Liberty became the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the WNBA’s 30-year history. That record needs context: the league has used several postseason structures, and in many previous formats those seeds could not meet in an opening series.
The current system began in 2022. All eight playoff teams enter a best-of-three first round, followed by best-of-five semifinals and a best-of-seven Finals. Under that format, New York is the first eighth seed to defeat the top seed.
The historic sweep has already revived discussion about whether two losses should be enough to erase an elite regular season. The Washington Post noted that Reeve supported expanding the opening round to five games even before Minnesota was eliminated.
Longer series generally give deeper, higher-seeded teams more time to recover from one poor night. But the compact format also creates immediate urgency—and the possibility of exactly the kind of upset New York just delivered.
What comes next for the Liberty
New York advances to the semifinals, which begin Sunday, and will face the winner of the Atlanta Dream–Washington Mystics series. The official WNBA playoff bracket lists the Liberty’s first-round result as a 2–0 series victory.
The No. 8 seed is now four wins away from another trip to the Finals. More importantly, the Liberty no longer look like a team that merely slipped into the bracket. They look like the experienced contender every higher seed hoped to avoid.
Minnesota owned the best record. New York owned the two nights that mattered.
Sources: WNBA and Associated Press game recap, WNBA playoff archive, Game 1 recap, and The Washington Post.
