The No. 2-seeded New York Liberty advanced to the 2023 WNBA semifinals with a 90-85 overtime win in Game 2 of their first-round series against the No. 7 Washington Mystics on Tuesday at Barclays Center. Here’s what you need to know:
- Mystics guard Natasha Cloud led all scorers with 33 points, a career high, adding six rebounds and nine assists. She had an assist on Brittney Sykes’ score-tying 3 with 33 seconds left in regulation.
- Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 27 points. New York shot 42 percent from the field, including 4-of-23 from beyond the arc.
- The Liberty will face the winner of the Connecticut Sun–Minnesota Lynx series in the next round. On the other side of the bracket, the Las Vegas Aces are awaiting the Dallas Wings or Atlanta Dream.
Highlights of the game
THAT SAB ➡️ B CONNECTION GETS REAL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zhoT9FKFfe
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) September 19, 2023
SYKES WITH THE SILENCER 😤@BrittBundlez ties up the game as she connects from the 3-PT line
📺 ESPN | 2023 #WNBAPlayoffs | @Google pic.twitter.com/gk96BRUeie
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 20, 2023
Key stat
The Liberty hadn’t advanced past their first postseason series since 2015. They lost in the first round in 2021 and 2022 and received byes to the second round, where they lost, in 2016 and 2017.
Required reading
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
