Stewart, Laney-Hamilton deliver as Liberty level series with Lynx - ESPN

NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart said as disappointing as the New York Liberty's Game 1 loss in the WNBA Finals was on Thursday, she didn't lose sleep over it. She reviewed video of her free throw that rimmed out at the end of regulation and the layup she missed at the end of overtime.

In neither case did she think she had done anything fundamentally wrong; the shots just didn't fall. That allowed her to get rest without dwelling on it too much. Still, when you're a two-time league MVP, you can't wait to redeem yourself.

«The moment the game ended Thursday, I was looking forward to Sunday,» Stewart said.

In the Liberty's 80-66 Game 2 win over Minnesota, Stewart's fingerprints covered the box score. She led New York with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a WNBA Finals-record 7 steals. She joined Alyssa Thomas in 2019 as the only players to record 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in a Finals game, according to ESPN Research.

Stewart also had a big responsibility in slowing down Minnesota star Napheesa Collier, who had 16 points and 8 rebounds, but also 7 turnovers.

Breanna Stewart's 21-point night against the Lynx in Sunday's Game 2 was her ninth career WNBA Finals game with at least 20 points, the second most in WNBA history.

Stewart was a senior and Collier a freshman on the UConn women's last national championship team, in 2015-16. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma was in attendance at Sunday's game, and Stewart joked it was «about time» he came to Brooklyn to watch her play. He saw the grown-up version of the player who led UConn to four consecutive NCAA titles.

«She was all over the floor, just wreaking havoc on everything, was in the gaps, and making things hard [for the Lynx],» New York guard Courtney