NY Liberty Fall to Minnesota Lynx in Commissioners Cup

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty faced off in the Commissioner’s Cup game at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. The game was held at UBS Areana due to the NBA Draft taking place at Barclays Center on Wednesday night. Despite the change in venue, Liberty fans showed up Liberty Loud to support their team and welcome back Courtney Vandersloot after the death of her mom. 

With both Vandersloot and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton back in the lineup they helped carry the Liberty to a 50-47 halftime lead. Breanna Stewart finished the night with 24 points and 11 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Lynx who made adjustments in the second half. 

The third quarter has typically been rough for the Liberty and Tuesday night was no exception. New York started the second half sluggish and sloppy while the Lynx came out with a much more aggressive game plan on defense. New York continued to turn the ball over well into the fourth quarter and ended the night with twenty-one turnovers total. All of the turnovers eventually became too much to overcome, especially with the Lynx continuing to apply pressure on defense. 

“I think they executed better than us and really that’s it. Twenty-one turnovers is never gonna win the game,” said Stewart in her post game press conference. Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve told the media, “You have to talk about us now” after she told her team to just, “win, and people will start talking about the Lynx as real title contenders,” before the game. 

And people are certainly talking about the Lynx after being overlooked by superteams like New York and the Las Vegas Aces. Reeve also said that her team’s “belief in one another” is what helped propel them to victory. 

New York and Minnesota will face each other again at Barclays center on Tuesday July 2 with a tip time set for 7PM. 

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Nikki Gist

Brand Development Manager at Jersey Sporting News

Nikki has her hands in various areas of Jersey Sporting News. She is the Brand Development Manager as well as lead New York Giants writer. She is also part of the dynamic Thunder & Lightning duo of Danny Behan & Nikki Gist.

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About The Author

Nikki Gist

Nikki has her hands in various areas of Jersey Sporting News. She is the Brand Development Manager as well as lead New York Giants writer. She is also part of the dynamic Thunder & Lightning duo of Danny Behan & Nikki Gist.

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