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          Sports world reacts to New York Liberty's WNBA title

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          Liberty celebrate after sealing first title in franchise history (0:50)

          The Liberty come up with a clutch steal in the final seconds of overtime to secure the first championship in franchise history. (0:50)

          • ESPN
          Oct 21, 2024, 03:13 AM

          At long last, the New York Liberty are WNBA champions.

          The Liberty won their first title in franchise history on Sunday, defeating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime in Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA Finals. It was the first winner-take-all Finals game to go to overtime in WNBA history.

          New York is the last of the eight original WNBA franchises to win a title. The win brings New York its first professional basketball title since the New York Nets won the ABA title in 1976.

          The Liberty were down by as many as 12 points in the second quarter but battled back to go ahead in the third -- outscoring the Lynx by 10 in that time frame. A back-and-forth fourth quarter followed. With 1:04 left to play, the score was tied at 58 apiece before Napheesa Collier put Minnesota ahead by two.

          Breanna Stewart then hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to tie it. The Lynx missed on their ensuing possession, sending the game into overtime. New York took the lead on its first possession of the extra period and never looked back.

          Here's how the sports world reacted to the Liberty's championship.

          ESPN Research contributed to this story.