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The Minnesota Lynx fueled a historic 18-point comeback against the New York Liberty that had the whole sports world buzzing, including South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley. Staley is a huge ambassador for women’s basketball who has put several star players in the league such as 2024 WNBA unanimous MVP A’ja Wilson. Per Staley, the game displayed how special women’s basketball is.
“I LOVE THIS GAME!! OUR GAME!! WBB IS SOMETHING SPECIAL!!!”
The Lynx-Liberty certainly was an amazing showcase of the sport, as Courtney Williams' improbable four-point play had the sports world buzzing. The shot proved to be important, as Minnesota maintained control of the game and ultimately secured the victory in overtime after a missed Breanna Stewart free-throw that would’ve given the Liberty the lead back.
Williams’s shot fueled the Lynx to secure one of the largest comeback wins in WNBA Finals history, ironically tied with the Liberty’s 1999 Game 2 victory over the Houston Comets.
The WNBA product is certainly growing and expanding, per comments from WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The WNBA Finals will now move to a best-of-seven reminiscent of the NBA. The format will be 2-2-1-1-1, as the highest seed in the series hosts games one and two and if necessary games five and seven.
“This will give our fans a championship series format that they are accustomed to seeing in other sports,” Engelbert said, via Doug Feinberg of apnews.com.
New changes are also coming to the WNBA as the regular season will now have 44 games, up from 40.
The changes are set to take place as the WNBA has seen expensive growth due to the arrival of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, Chicago Sky sensation Angel Reese, and other members of the 2024 rookie class.
The commissioner announced that the league’s use of charter flights throughout the season, including during the playoffs, simplifies travel between cities. Engelbert also mentioned that the draft lottery is scheduled for November 17, and that the expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries, will have the fifth overall pick.
Meanwhile, Dawn Staley and her Lady Gamecocks are doing a lot to help the growth of women’s basketball themselves. They recently won the 2023-2024 National Championship after posting an undefeated season and, alongside Iowa and Caitlin Clark, posted 18.9 million viewers in the game. The viewership for the 2024 national championship game was a 90% increase over the 2023 National championship, which featured Clark and Angel Reese.
The Liberty and Lynx will match up for Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday at 3 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
