No. 8-seeded Liberty sweep top-seeded Lynx 87-71 in quarterfinals, advance to WNBA semifinals

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-30 · by Doug Feinberg The Associated Press

Quick Summary

Jonquel Jones led the New York Liberty with 21 points and 13 rebounds as they defeated the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series, advancing to the semifinals in a surprising upset. This is the first time in league history that an eighth seed has eliminated a number one seed since the current format was introduced in 2022. Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu also contributed significantly with 21 and 18 points respectively.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-30, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The New York Liberty secured a shocking 91-75 victory over the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in Game 1 of their best-of-three WNBA playoff series on Sunday, April 23, 2026. Despite finishing as the eighth seed with a record of 26-18, the Liberty's star player Breanna Stewart led the charge with an impressive performance of 34 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. The win puts the Liberty one game away from eliminating the previously undefeated Lynx, who must now win Game 2 to avoid being the first top-seeded team in history to fail to advance past the first round since a format change in 2022.

Stewart's clutch play was pivotal, as she scored crucial points and made key defensive plays against her former college teammate Napheesa Collier. The Liberty capitalized on multiple Lynx turnovers and foul trouble, with Collier and All-Star center Natasha Howard each fouling out of the game. Rookie Olivia Miles struggled in her first playoff appearance, scoring just 11 points.

With Game 2 scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, at home, the Liberty now hold a narrow advantage but remain wary of a potential Lynx comeback, as they narrowly escaped a similar situation last year against Phoenix. The Liberty’s defense was instrumental in limiting the Lynx's scoring opportunities and forcing turnovers that kept the game close until the final quarter when New York pulled away. Despite their historic lead, Stewart emphasized the need for continued focus to avoid being caught off guard by Minnesota's resilience.

Written for “Liberty-Lynx WNBA Playoff Matchup” on 2026-10-05, grounded in this article and the 13 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 23 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
63.3
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
14
Sports
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-30 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Liberty-Lynx WNBA Playoff Matchup
Sports · 14 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian · 0.92 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 24 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same basketball game where the No. 8 seed New York Liberty defeated the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx with identical scores and player statistics, advancing to the semifinals in a historic upset.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 35 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the exact same game where the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx with a score of 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on September 30, 2026.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 23 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the same game, Game 2 of the WNBA playoff series between New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx on September 30, where New York won 87-71.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 2 of 20 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A discusses predictions and context for Game 1 of the Liberty vs. Lynx series, while Article B reports on the result of Game 2 where the Liberty won to advance to semifinals.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 36 📰 publisher trust 64
“The articles describe different games in a series; Article A refers to an earlier game with a score of 91-75, while Article B describes Game 2 with a score of 87-71.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 19 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Jonquel Jones and her team, the New York Liberty, defeating the Minnesota Lynx with a score of 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on the same date.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 63
“Article A describes Liberty's win over Lynx, while Article B reports Dream's victory over Mystics and mentions Liberty's achievement in a different context.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 33 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A reports on the game where Liberty beat the Lynx in Game 2 of their playoff series, while Article B is about Joe Tsai's reaction to Liberty advancing after sweeping the series.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 1 of 9 📰 publisher trust 63
“The articles describe different games of a series between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, not the same specific game.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 1 of 9 📰 publisher trust 60
“The articles describe different games of a series: Article A covers Game 1 on Sunday, while Article B reports on Game 2 and the overall series result from Tuesday.”

Publisher

Toronto Star · 5200 article(s) · 17 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 17 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Doug Feinberg The Associated Press
18 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 New York will be making its third appearance in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs in the past four years when the Liberty play the Atlanta Dream on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-five series.
🔮 Minnesota couldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
🔮 Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers are set to make their WNBA postseason debuts while Caitlin Clark returns to the playoffs after missing last season because of injury.
🔮 “I know the betting people will have favorites and that sort of thing.
🔮 The Minnesota Lynx have clinched the top seed and will face eighth-seeded New York in the opening round that begins Sunday.
🔮 NEW YORK (AP) — Madina Okot had a special guest at the Atlanta Dream’s win over the New York Liberty on Wednesday night as Kenyan President William Ruto was sitting courtside.
🔮 The two teams will play again on Wednesday in the regular-season finale.
🔮 A win against New York on Wednesday or a loss by Indiana in one of its final two games would give the Dream home court in the opening round of the postseason.
🔮 The eight teams that will play in the postseason were decided a few weeks ago, but none of positions have been clinched yet.
🔮 Courtney Williams, who starred for the Sun for five seasons, had five points during the opening spurt.
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Doug Feinberg The Associated Press
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 18 articles by Doug Feinberg The Associated Press →

Topics

Liberty Lynx NEW YORK New York Liberty WNBA

Subjects

NEW YORK GPE · 7× Stewart PERSON · 4× Liberty ORG · 3× Lynx ORG · 3× Miles PERSON · 2× WNBA ORG · 2× Breanna Stewart PERSON · 1× Jonquel Jones PERSON · 1× Minnesota Lynx ORG · 1× New York Liberty ORG · 1×

Narrative

NEW YORK (AP) — Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the No. 8 seed New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series Tuesday night and advanced to the semifinal round.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-30
🔮 Minnesota couldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Claims (23 extracted, 0 hedged)

NEW YORK (AP) — Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the No. 8 seed New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series Tuesday night and advanced to the semifinal round. asserted
seed → have → round
Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history. asserted
Liberty → add → history
The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats. asserted
WNBA → undergo → formats
And in many of the formats, it wasn’t possible for those seeds to match up. asserted
seeds → match → formats
However, in 2022 the league changed to the current format in which the top eight teams play in the quarterfinals. asserted
teams → change → quarterfinals
Now, New York awaits the winner of the Atlanta-Washington series. asserted
York → await → series
The Dream are up 1-0 and play at Washington on Wednesday night. asserted
Dream → play → night
The semifinals begin Sunday. asserted
semifinals → begin → ?
A year after losing in the first round to Phoenix after going up 1-0 in that series, New York was determined not to have that happen again. asserted
that → lose → series
The Liberty were up five points after one quarter and led 40-35 with 2:39 left in the half. asserted
Liberty → lead → half
New York scored nine of the final 11 points in the second quarter to go up 49-37 at the break. asserted
York → score → break
New York was up 52-39 with 6:26 left in the third when Stewart drove to the basket and was hit in the face by Miles as she tried to block the shot. asserted
she → leave → shot
Stewart was down for a minute as the officials reviewed the play and upgraded the play to a Flagrant-1 foul. asserted
officials → review → foul
As Stewart walked off the court, she raised her hands to the sellout crowd of 17,593, who serenaded her with M-V-P! chants. asserted
who → walk → chants
Stewart hit both free throws. asserted
Stewart → hit → throws
Minnesota couldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the way. asserted
Minnesota → get → way
The Lynx’s season ended in disappointment again. asserted
season → end → disappointment
The Lynx had the best regular-season record, but just couldn’t put it together against New York. asserted
Lynx → have → York
On Monday, Cheryl Reeve won the league’s Coach of the Year and Olivia Miles was a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. asserted
Miles → win → Year
Miles struggled in both games against New York. asserted
Miles → struggle → York
She had five points, missing seven of her eight shots in 17 minutes, on Tuesday night. asserted
She → have → night
The Liberty’s size and ability to protect the rim bothered the stellar first-year player. asserted
size → protect → player
Courtney Williams scored 18 points and Napheesa Collier added 14 to lead the Lynx. asserted
Collier → score → Lynx
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