Lynx surge past Liberty to win first Commissioner's Cup title - ESPN

NEW YORK — Bridget Carleton scored 23 points and Napheesa Collier added 21 to help the Minnesota Lynx win their first Commissioner's Cup championship with a 94-89 victory over the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.

The Lynx became the fourth team to win the Cup in the event's four-year history and continued the trend of the host team losing. New York was trying to be the first to repeat as champions after winning in Las Vegas last season.

The score was tied at 60 late in the third quarter when Carleton and Cecilia Zandalasini hit consecutive 3-pointers to start a 10-0 run that spanned the periods.

Breanna Stewart scored nine straight points to get the Liberty within 70-69, but they could never regain the lead. Courtney Williams and Carleton scored the next five points for Minnesota and New York never really threatened again.

Collier, who also had six rebounds and three assists, won the game's MVP award.

Stewart scored 24 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 23. Jonquel Jones, who has been fantastic for the Liberty all season, struggled on Tuesday night. She missed all three of her field-goal attempts and didn't score until hitting two free throws with 1:20 left.

The game was moved from the Liberty's usual home Barclays Center to UBS Arena — about 20 miles away — because the NBA draft was being held there Wednesday night and there wasn't enough time to change over the arena after the game.

Even though it wasn't their normal home, the Liberty faithful showed up and were loud trying to spur on their team to victory.

New York built a 47-37 lead midway through the second quarter before the Lynx scored eight straight points to get within two. The Liberty led 50-47 at the break as Ionescu had 18 points and Kayla Thornton 14.

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