The Women's National Basketball Association season concluded this past  Sunday Oct. 21 when the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime to win the penultimate Game five of the WNBA finals. After losing in their last five trips to the finals, New York finally broke through to capture their first WNBA Championship in franchise history. 

It was a clash of the top two teams in the league, though one of those teams exceeded expectations coming into this season. New York was the top team in the Eastern Conference Division in 2023 and lost in the WNBA finals to the Las Vegas Aces that year. The Lynx were a powerhouse in the 2010s, but had a slow start to the new decade. They were the sixth seed in 2023 and missed the playoffs the year before that. 

Both the Liberty and Lynx cruised through their first-round matchups this year. In the semifinals, Minnesota faced a Connecticut Sun team that had knocked them out of the playoffs last year. The series went back and forth, but the Lynx prevailed in Game five behind a dominant 27 point, 11 rebound, and four block performance from star forward Napheesa Collier. The Liberty’s semi final opponents were the Aces, who were looking to win their third straight WNBA championship. Although New York were the favorites, few thought they would cruise past the Aces as easily as they did, wrapping up the series in four games to send them to the Finals.

This series has seen both teams battle back from the brink with stunning comebacks. In Game one, the Liberty led by as many as 17 points in the first half before the Lynx offense came alive. Minnesota guard Courtney Williams sank a three-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, and Collier hit the go-ahead shot in overtime to hand the Lynx the opening win.

New York bounced back in Game two. Although Minnesota pulled within two points midway through the fourth quarter, a 12-0 run to end the game sealed a 80-66 victory for New York. Game three was a heavyweight fight, Collier scored 22 and broke the WNBA record for points scored in a single postseason and New York forward Breanna Stewart scored 30. However, it was Liberty sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu who stole the show, hitting a game-winning three point shot from near half-court to give New York an 80-77 win and 2-1 series lead. Game four was close the entire time — Minnesota held a five-point lead heading into the final minutes, but New York went on a run to equalize in the final minute. Williams’ go-ahead attempt for Minnesota fell short with 10 seconds left, but Lynx forward Bridget Carlton was fouled on the put-back attempt. She sank her two free throws and Minnesota won Game four 82-80.

This all led to a winner-takes-all Game five. It was a low scoring affair, as neither team shot above 40% from the field. The Lynx paced the Liberty with around a 10-point lead for most of the first half, but New York rallied in the third quarter to take a 47-44 lead. The two teams jostled back and forth in the fourth quarter until Collier put the Lynx up 60-58. Echoing Game four, it came down to foul shots when New York’s Stewart was fouled with five seconds to go. She hit both to send the game to overtime, the first time a finals Game five had been to overtime in league history. Overtime was low scoring with seven combined turnovers. New York hit a three early in the period to take a 63-60 lead and made it 65-60 after a Nyara Sabally layup. Minnesota’s only points came from two free throws in the final two minutes to make it 65-62, the final score when the buzzer sounded, giving an embattled New York Franchise its first championship in six attempts on its home floor.

In keeping with the trend from the regular season, this year’s WNBA playoffs were the most-watched in a long time. Viewership is up over 131% compared to 2023, per Sports Business Journal, averaging a little over one million viewers per game. In 2023, no playoff games eclipsed one million viewers. Ionescu’s Game 3 heroics drew 1.4 million viewers to the broadcast, peaking at two million. It was the most watched WNBA finals game in 23 years, according to the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, and the most viewed game ever on cable. Competing with the Major League Baseball World Series, National Basketball Association preseason and even National Football League Sunday, the WNBA has managed to pull good viewership numbers on its playoff broadcasts. It’s a capstone on a successful season --- the WNBA is ready to expand and fight for more coverage come 2025.