The New York Liberty can finally call themselves WNBA champions.

After coming up on the losing end of five WNBA Finals, the Liberty captured their first championship, beating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime of the decisive Game 5 Sunday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Lynx had won a hard-fought Game 4 Friday in Minneapolis to force a winner-take-all game in the best-of-5 finals.

Jonquel Jones led New York with 17 points and six rebounds, and Breanna Stewart 13 points and 15 rebounds. Napheesa paced Minnesota with 22 points and seven rebounds, while Kayla McBride added 21 points, five rebounds and five assists.

It’s been a long road for the Liberty, one of the original teams when the WNBA debuted in 1997. New York reached the league’s first final that season, losing to the Houston Comets, and were dispatched by the Comets again in 1999 and 2000 before losing to the Los Angeles Sparks in 2002. It then took the Liberty 21 years to make it back to the Finals, but they couldn’t overcome the Las Vegas Aces last year.

But now, New York has finally conquered the mountain and can celebrate a long-awaited WNBA championship in the Big Apple.

“Oh my god! This is incredible,” Stewart said in a post-game interview with ESPN. “I knew I was going to make it for this city. This is something special right here.

“It means everything,” Stewart continued. “I wanted to come here, and I wanted to be the person. We fought through because we wanted to bring it home for this city and this crowd.”

Jonquel Jones named WNBA Finals MVP

Center Jonquel Jones won the individual award following a 17-point performance in Game 5. Jones shot 5 of 10 from the field while collecting six rebounds and one assist in 42 minutes of play.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) looks to drive past Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) during Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 20, 2024.

POST GAME THREAD 10/20/24: THE NEW YORK LIBERTY WIN GAME 5 IN OVERTIME  67-62! THE DROUGHT IS OVER! YOURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR NEW YOK LIBERTY ARE  WNBA CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER : r/NYLiberty