The New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 93-81 in a game that had significant playoff implications despite the official postseason not starting until September 27. Key players for the Liberty, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, contributed with 24 points each to secure their team’s fourth win against the Lynx this season. The game was closely contested but ultimately decided by a strong third quarter performance from Marine Johannès and defensive pressure on Minnesota's Olivia Miles in the final period.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
MINNEAPOLIS — The WNBA playoffs technically don’t start until Sept. 27.
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playoffs → start → Sept.
But if you asked Cheryl Reeve and others in the playoff field, they’ll tell you the postseason began after the FIBA Women’s World Cup break.
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postseason → ask → break
Amid a race for seeding, the stakes for these games over the final week of the season carry immense weight.
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stakes → carry → weight
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you → get → things
Liberty know that.
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Liberty → know → that
Teams that are hot from the jump will benefit.
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that → benefit → jump
So what did the Liberty do?
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Liberty → do → what
They marched into a raucous road environment at Target Center on Friday night, battled the league’s best team and walked out with a well-deserved 93-81 win to capture the regular-season series 3-1.
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They → march → series
Whenever the Liberty play the Lynx, the game seems to matter even more.
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game → play → Lynx
The rivalry took on new life after the 2024 WNBA Finals, which the Liberty won in five games, but the Lynx were sour about the officiating down the stretch.
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Lynx → take → stretch
Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu always seem to rise to the occasion.
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Stewart → seem → occasion
Entering Friday’s contest, Stewart averaged 26.5 points and Ionescu 21 across the first three meetings this year.
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Ionescu → enter → meetings
The two led the charge Friday.
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two → lead → charge
Stewart finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds less than a week after she led Team USA to a gold-medal finish in Berlin.
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she → finish → Berlin
She moved to ninth on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list on Friday.
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She → move → Friday
Meanwhile, Ionescu, who had been itching to play again after going an unprecedented 0-for-10 from the field in the final game before the break, recorded 17 points and six assists.
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who → itch → points
She also went 3-for-9 from deep.
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She → go → deep
Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
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Jones → add → points
No team led by more than eight points entering the fourth.
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team → lead → fourth
Nia Brodie (née Coffey, who got married over the break) drained a corner 3 to tie the game with 3:45 left in the third.
Marine Johannès then caught fire.
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Johannès → marry → fire
She scored 10 straight points for New York in the final 1:30 of the quarter to ensure New York maintained the edge on the Lynx heading into the fourth.
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York → score → fourth
Things then started to come undone for the Lynx.
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Things → start → Lynx
The crowd disengaged as the Liberty used a 13-4 run to pull ahead by seven points.
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Liberty → disengage → points
A 4-0 run by Minnesota reinvigorated its crowd.
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run → reinvigorate → crowd
The Liberty badgered Rookie of the Year frontrunner Olivia Miles.
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Liberty → badger → Miles
She went 3-for-13 through the first three quarters and at times appeared frustrated with the officiating.
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She → go → officiating
Things started to open up for Miles in the fourth.
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Things → start → fourth
She finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
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She → finish → points
The Liberty used the World Cup break as a chance to push the reset button.
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Liberty → use → button
The non-World Cup participants focused on defense during the league’s two-week pause.
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participants → focus → pause
But coach Chris DeMarco wants the Liberty to do more than just go undefeated down the stretch.
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Liberty → want → stretch
“It’s just about clicking on both ends,” DeMarco said.
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DeMarco → ’ → ends
“Defensively: one voice, communication, make sure we’re on the same page with our schemes, what we’re trying to accomplish.
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we → make → what
And then offensively, when we’ve looked our best, we just have a good rhythm of throwing the ball ahead, having the right space, making plays for each other.
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we → look → other
We talk a lot about when the help side defender comes over, where others are going to be.
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others → talk → lot
So that’s going to be our focus.”
Buckle in, because the final week will be a sprint.
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week → go → ?
Minnesota is trying to maintain its footing at the top of the standings.
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Minnesota → try → standings
Golden State is on the Lynx’s heels and hoping its Cinderella story might end with championship glory.
uncertain
story → hop → glory
Las Vegas wants to remind everyone that the Aces remain the Aces.
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Aces → want → everyone
Indiana, Atlanta, Dallas, Washington and New York are fighting for positioning.
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Indiana → fight → positioning
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
