Breanna Stewart puts Liberty on brink of first WNBA title

MINNEAPOLIS — Breanna Stewart sat on the bench within the fourth quarter of Sport 3 within the WNBA Finals on Wednesday, her workforce down two factors. The New York Liberty had clawed again from a 15-point first-quarter deficit, largely due to an excellent 30-point night time from Stewart.

Earlier than the Liberty returned to the ground towards the house workforce Lynx and their 19,521 followers desperate to see Minnesota return to its championship glory, Stewart emphatically delivered a easy message earlier than the timeout ended.

“We’re not going to f—ing lose this sport.”

“I might really feel it,” Stewart stated of the second. “You possibly can really feel the momentum was shifting to our aspect. It [was] like, if we’re going to be this shut, we aren’t leaving right here with out this win.”

The Liberty introduced Stewart’s plea into fruition.

Behind 11 factors within the remaining 2:10 from Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones — capped by Ionescu’s 28-foot 3-pointer to win the sport — New York secured a 80-77 comeback victory to maneuver inside one win of clinching the 2024 WNBA title.

And whereas Ionescu’s remaining shot may be the lasting picture from the sport, the Liberty — who’re chasing the franchise’s first championship — would have been on life assist with out Stewart’s monster night time on each ends of the ground.

The 2-time WNBA, four-time NCAA champion and two-time WNBA MVP completed with 30 factors, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, making her the one participant in league historical past with a number of 30-10 Finals performances. She can be the one participant to have a 30-point Finals sport for 2 totally different franchises, her earlier one coming with the Seattle Storm.

“We do not win this sport with out Stewie,” Ionescu stated. “What she was in a position to do, simply continued to chip away … that [game-winning] shot’s good however that does not go towards what she’s been in a position to do for us tonight and the way she was in a position to simply will us again into that sport.”

“She carried us,” Jones added of Stewart. “With out her, we would not be ready to make these massive performs.”

This yr’s WNBA Finals have been a curler coaster for Stewart and the Liberty. In Sport 1, New York blew a 15-point edge with 5 minutes to go earlier than dropping in additional time. Stewart missed what would have been the game-winning free throw with 0.8 left in regulation, in addition to a layup in additional time that might have tied the rating proper earlier than the ultimate buzzer.

Behind Stewart’s 21-point, 5-steal outing, the Liberty bounced again in Sport 2. However in Minnesota’s first residence sport of the collection, New York acquired punched first, struggling early towards the Lynx’s defensive strain and committing 8 first-quarter turnovers. Minnesota turned these into 14 factors to assist construct a double-digit benefit.

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Stewart began heating up within the second interval with six factors, serving to New York reduce the deficit to a manageable eight going into the break. However she put her foot on the fuel after halftime: With a pair of 3-pointers, some robust soar pictures and a number of and-1s, Stewart scored 13 straight factors for the Liberty throughout the third and fourth intervals, tying the rating and marking probably the most consecutive workforce factors scored by a single participant within the WNBA Finals.

Her 22 factors within the second half had been the fourth most by a participant in both half in Finals historical past.

“She made massive, massive performs and had a giant stretch,” Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot stated. “Once we could not actually rating, she acquired a couple of massive buckets, type of acquired our offense going. … That is what you anticipate your superstars to do.”

Stewart’s effort on the defensive finish was simply as impactful. Along with her rim safety — three of her 4 blocks got here within the second half — Stewart held the Lynx to 4-for-15 taking pictures as a main defender and compelled 4 turnovers. Over the previous two video games, Lynx star Napheesa Collier has shot 4-for-12 and dedicated six turnovers towards Stewart.

“You simply see her expertise, proper? She’s an incredible participant,” New York guard Leonie Fiebich stated. “Simply on offense and protection she made such massive performs for us. By no means gave up. She was at all times coming in, flying from someplace on the defensive finish. It was nice to observe her carry out like that.”

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Sport 3 mirrored Sport 1: The highway workforce erased a giant deficit — New York trailed by as many as 18 final Thursday — to come back away with the victory. Since that heartbreaking defeat, Stewart and the Liberty “had been all type of simply ready for our second, ready for the script to flip a bit bit,” she stated.

“I used to be motivated,” Stewart stated about Wednesday’s contest. “I used to be mad [that New York was losing]. And I favored my matchups that I had, and actually type of attacking them to guarantee that we might get this again into the place we would have liked to be for it to be a ballgame.”

With yet one more win, Stewart can deliver the Liberty the championship she envisioned when she signed with the workforce in free company forward of the 2023 season. She will absolutely exorcise any demons remaining from how 2023 ended — a 3-for-17 Sport 4 efficiency because the Las Vegas Aces celebrated the WNBA title on the Liberty’s residence ground. And if New York wins Friday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) or in a decisive Sport 5 on Sunday, Stewart might grow to be solely the second WNBA participant, and first since Cynthia Cooper, to win not less than three Finals MVPs.

However the glory of what might lie forward was of no concern to Stewart after Wednesday’s sport. The job is not finished but, she reiterated.

“We all know we’re one sport away from profitable the championship, and I believe that they’re going to give us their finest shot,” Stewart stated. “They will give every little thing they have, and you understand what, so are we.”