Sandy Brondello’s New York Liberty are savouring their first WNBA title, with the Australian coach guiding her team to a thrilling overtime victory over Minnesota in game five of the finals.
The Liberty had lost five previous finals series but after 28 years were finally able to celebrate in front of a full house at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, clawing their way to a 67-62 win on Monday (AEDT).
One of the original eight teams when the league began in 1997, New York were the only one left of that group who hadn’t claimed a championship.
“I’m really proud of our team, how resilient we were, how we stuck together, how we continued to trust each other, and that was our word today – just trust the process – and we found a way to win,” said the Olympic coach, who also claimed bronze with the Opals in Paris.
“We wanted to win. New York has never won before and now we’re going to go in the history books as the first ever and that makes me very proud.”
It was Brondello’s second WNBA crown, coming 10 years after she triumphed with Phoenix in her first season as a head coach in 2014.
“It’s been a decade, so I was due one,” she said. “It feels good.
“It’s a little bit different because back then we were so dominant in Phoenix.
“This has been a grind every single game and there’s things we could have done better but we never strayed away from who we are as a team, and I never strayed away from who I am as a coach.”
While Brondello soaked up the hard-fought victory, her Opals forward Alanna Smith was left shattered with her Lynx side unable to collect their fifth championship.
The 28-year-old carried a back injury into the decider, and was again crunched in the final quarter in a tangle with New York MVP Jonquel Jones but remained on the court for the thrilling finale.
The teams were locked at 60-60 at fulltime, with Liberty forward Breanna Stewart slotting two free throws to level with 5.2 seconds left on the clock after being fouled by Smith.
Minnesota’s challenge against the foul was denied.
New York then raced ahead in overtime thanks to a three-pointer by Leonie Fiebich which was followed by a lay-up from another unheralded German, Nyara Sabally.
With the Lynx unable to make a dent it was the Liberty’s time to shine, with Stewart icing the win with another pair of free throws.
The game started slowly for New York with sharpshooters Sabrina Ionescu and Stewart struggling, and they trailed by as much as 12 before pegging it back to a 34-27 halftime deficit.
They hit the front for the first time with little more than three minutes left in the third quarter, outscoring Minnesota 20-10 to go into the final term with a three-point lead.
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve was fuming in the post-match press conference, saying the title was “stolen” due to poor officiating and singled out Smith’s crucial foul, calling for an overhaul of the challenge system.
“I thought today was incredibly disappointing,” she said, after her team had only gone to the free-throw line eight times compared to the Liberty’s 25.
“It’s a shame officiating had such a hand in a series like this.
“That was not a foul and that call should have been reversed on that challenge. It was marginal contact, guaranteed … and that decided the game.
“I know all the headlines will be ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on. Because this s**t was stolen from us.”
