FINAL · GAME DETAIL
Minnesota Lynx
vs New York Liberty
One game ID connects the final, quarter flow, leading player lines and season position.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | 22 | 27 | 16 | 21 | 86 |
| NY | 26 | 33 | 19 | 21 | 99 |
GAME FLOW · NUMBERS
Reconstructing the game from the quarter line
New York Liberty finished ahead of Minnesota Lynx, 99-86, a 13-point margin. The first-half totals were 49 for Minnesota Lynx and 59 for New York Liberty; the third- and fourth-quarter totals were 37 and 40. The combined final of 185 matches the sum of the two quarter lines across 4 periods, including any overtime.
1Q: MIN 22-NY 26, 22-26 cumulative; 2Q: MIN 27-NY 33, 49-59 cumulative; 3Q: MIN 16-NY 19, 65-78 cumulative; 4Q: MIN 21-NY 21, 86-99 cumulative. Reading the period score beside the running score identifies exactly when the gap expanded or contracted. Minnesota Lynx's highest-scoring period was 27 points, while New York Liberty's high was 33; the final separation was 13 points.
The first-half margin was 10 points, compared with 3 across the third and fourth quarters. Splitting the final this way preserves two distinct parts of the game instead of reducing it to one score. The quarter table above provides the same sequence as team scores and cumulative totals for direct comparison.
BOX SCORE READ
Team indicators and leading player lines
Minnesota Lynx recorded 40% from the field, 32% from three and 89% at the line; New York Liberty posted 58%, 40% and 94%. Rebounds finished 31-34, assists 22-26 and turnovers 8-15. The same team box reports a 46-52 split in paint points and 16-7 in offensive rebounds.
Kayla McBride led Minnesota Lynx with 18 points. Natasha Howard supplied a team-high 6 rebounds, while Olivia Miles led with 5 assists. For New York Liberty, the corresponding leaders were Breanna Stewart with 36 points, Jonquel Jones with 15 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu with 6 assists.
The player tables contain minutes, points, rebounds, assists, shooting and on-court differential for 9 recorded participants from MIN and 9 from NY. Reading those rows beside the team totals connects the final score, shooting efficiency and possession outcomes to specific player production without substituting an unsupported judgment for the box score.
SEASON CONTEXT · 2026
Locating both teams through standings and head-to-head results
In the current table, Minnesota Lynx are 24-6, No. 1 overall and No. 1 in the West, 0 games behind the conference leader. New York Liberty are 17-13, No. 8 overall and No. 4 in the East, 2.5 games back. Their cumulative point differentials are +282 and +64.
Counting only completed standard-season results through this game, Minnesota Lynx stood at 15-5 across 20 games and New York Liberty at 13-8 across 21. Their most recent sets of up to five finals were 3-2 and 2-3. Scoring in those short windows was 409-411 for the away team and 438-435 for the home team, keeping recent form separate from the full-season record.
Across 1 completed meetings in the same season, Minnesota Lynx recorded 0 wins and New York Liberty 1; aggregate scoring was 86-99. The teams are separated by 7 places in the overall order and by 7 cumulative wins. Standings, the recent five-game window and the season series cover different sample sizes, so they are presented as three numerical views of the same matchup rather than collapsed into one rating.
Team box score
| Stat | MIN | NY |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | 40 | 58 |
| 3P% | 32 | 40 |
| FT% | 89 | 94 |
| Rebounds | 31 | 34 |
| Assists | 22 | 26 |
| Turnovers | 8 | 15 |
| Paint points | 46 | 52 |
Minnesota Lynx
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayla McBride * | 33 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 7-16 | -17 |
| Natasha Howard * | 31 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3-10 | -23 |
| Nia Coffey * | 28 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2-11 | -13 |
| Olivia Miles * | 26 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 5-16 | -4 |
| Courtney Williams * | 25 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 7-13 | -19 |
| Maya Caldwell | 23 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1-3 | 2 |
| Anastasiia Olairi Kosu | 14 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 4-6 | 6 |
| Antonia Delaere | 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2-7 | -1 |
| Liatu King | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3-3 | 4 |
| Eliska Hamzova | COACH'S DECISION | – | – | – | –-– | – |
New York Liberty
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breanna Stewart * | 36 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 14-19 | 17 |
| Leonie Fiebich * | 36 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 5-10 | 18 |
| Sabrina Ionescu * | 35 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 5-12 | 18 |
| Jonquel Jones * | 33 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 5-10 | 16 |
| Pauline Astier * | 30 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 5-6 | 14 |
| Marine Johannes | 15 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0-1 | -6 |
| Han Xu | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2-2 | -6 |
| Rebekah Gardner | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-2 | -5 |
| Raquel Carrera | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | -1 |
| Betnijah Laney-Hamilton | COACH'S DECISION | – | – | – | –-– | – |
| Rebecca Allen | COACH'S DECISION | – | – | – | –-– | – |