CELEBRITY
No. 8 Seed Just Did the Impossible — First 8-Over-1 Sweep in WNBA History
*No. 8 Seed Just Did the Impossible — First 8-Over-1 Sweep in WNBA History*
They said the regular season matters. The New York Liberty just proved it doesn’t.
The No. 8 seed Liberty didn’t just upset the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx — they *swept them out of the playoffs 2-0*, becoming the first 8-seed in the WNBA’s 30-year history to ever beat a 1-seed.
*Final score Game 2: Liberty 87, Lynx 71* in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. Combined margin: +32. It wasn’t close.
This was a revenge rematch of the 2024 WNBA Finals that New York won to capture its first championship ever. Minnesota spent all of 2026 trying to get it back — going 33-11, best record in the league, Cheryl Reeve winning Coach of the Year (her 5th), rookie sensation Olivia Miles winning unanimous Rookie of the Year with a record 790 points.
And it ended in two games.
*How it happened:*
The Liberty’s Big 3 looked like the Big 3 again.
– *Jonquel Jones:* 21 points, 13 rebounds — set the tone in the paint from tip to finish
– *Breanna Stewart:* 21 points, 5 boards, 4 assists — took a Flagrant 1 to the face in the 3rd and hit both FTs to a standing “MVP” chant from 17,593 fans
– *Sabrina Ionescu:* 18 points, 7 assists — the dagger threes and late control
The trio scored or assisted on 70 of New York’s 87 points — one less than the entire Lynx team had.
Minnesota shot just 38.2% as a team. Miles, who averaged 19.8 ppg this season, finished Game 2 1-for-8 for 5 points, and ended the series with 16 points on 20 shots and only 2 assists total. Courtney Williams led Lynx with 18, but never got help.
New York led by 5 after Q1, closed the half on a 9-2 run to go up 49-37, and never let Minnesota within 7 points for the entire 4th quarter.
“We know we’re not a traditional eight seed. We understand once the playoffs come, it’s a new season,” Ionescu said. “We have more to do.”
“It feels good, we understand who we are as a team. We don’t listen to the noise from the outside,” Jones added. “We feel like we can play with anyone and beat anyone.”
This wasn’t supposed to be possible. In the current format since 2022, a 1-vs-8 matchup can happen, but CBS says no 1-seed had ever lost by this much in a best-of-3. Minnesota didn’t just lose — they got outclassed.
A year ago, New York blew a 1-0 lead and lost in the first round to Phoenix. This time they made sure history went the other way.
Next up: Semifinals starting Sunday vs the winner of Atlanta Dream / Washington Mystics (Atlanta leads 1-0).
The defending champs entered as the 8th seed. Now they look like the most dangerous team left.
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