Oct 13, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) drives past Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton (6) in the second quarter during game two of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Behind 21 points and a WNBA Finals-record seven steals by Breanna Stewart, the host New York Liberty evened the score against the Minnesota Lynx in the championship series, winning Game 2 80-66 on Sunday afternoon in front of 18,046 fans — a record crowd for women’s basketball at the Barclays Center.
Stewart also had eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 7-of-18 from the floor in a stat-stuffing performance.
New York also got a breakout performance from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who had her first 20-point outing since July 6 and just her fourth overall of the season. The ninth-year forward shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point land, and also had two rebounds and two assists.
The Liberty, who tied up the best-of-five series at 1-1, also got 14 points and nine rebounds from Jonquel Jones and 15 points and five assists from Sabrina Ionescu.
Minnesota — which will host Game 3 on Wednesday in Minneapolis — was led by 16 points from Napheesa Collier, 15 points from Courtney Williams and 14 points from Alanna Smith.
Much like Game 1, the Liberty built a big lead early. Unlike the series opener, though, they didn’t completely blow it.
New York led 31-21 after the first quarter, powered by 12 points and two assists from Ionescu. In the second frame, the Liberty grew their lead to as many as 17 points with a 15-8 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from Laney-Hamilton.
The Lynx started chipping away in the second half.
With 3:40 left to play, Minnesota trimmed the deficit to two points when Williams sliced through the heart of the defense for a layup. But on the next possession, Laney-Hamilton responded with authority, swishing a 3-pointer from the left wing. After a Stewart free throw, Leonie Fiebich then knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer — her only points of the game — in transition to push New York’s lead back to nine points with 90 seconds remaining.
A big difference between the two teams was 3-point shooting, where the Liberty knocked down 11 shots from behind the arc on 24 attempts, while the Lynx shot 6-of-20.
The Liberty also won the rebounding battle 34-27 and scored 26 points off 20 Minnesota turnovers.
–Field Level Media
