Women’s basketball
Fiebich and Sabally lose their first WNBA final game
Leonie Fiebich (left) lost with the New York Liberty in the first game of the WNBA finals against the Minnesota Lynx. photo
© Pamela Smith/AP/dpa
Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally dramatically lost the first WNBA final game with the New York Liberty. Despite being in the lead for a long time, they lost to the Minnesota Lynx after overtime.
The German national basketball players Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally played the first final game for the championship in the WNBA narrowly lost. Your team, the New York Liberty, lost to the Minnesota Lynx 93:95 (84:84, 44:36) after overtime despite home advantage and a long, high lead. With five minutes left in regulation time, the Liberty led by 15 points.
Fiebich was in the starting lineup and scored 17 points. She particularly shone from the three-point line with five converted throws. The 24-year-old, who was named to the All-Rookie team in her first season in the WNBA, also recorded six rebounds and four assists. Sabally had four points and three rebounds in six minutes off the bench. The Liberty’s best thrower was Jonquel Jones with 24 points.
On the other side, a trio led the Lynx’s comeback: Napheesa Collier scored the decisive basket just ten seconds before the end of overtime and scored 21 points, Courtney Williams scored 23 and Kayla McBride scored 22.
Liberty are still waiting for their first WNBA title
The second game of the best-of-five final series will also take place on Sunday in New York. Before the first final game, the league announced that it would play the final series in best-of-seven mode starting next season.
The Liberty, who also reached the final last year and lost to the Las Vegas Aces, are still waiting for their first championship. They finished the main round as the best team ahead of the Lynx, who could become the WNBA’s sole record winner with their fifth title.