Bridget Carleton scored 23 points and dished out five assists as the Minnesota Lynx beat the New York Liberty 94-89 on Tuesday night in Elmont, N.Y., to capture the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Lynx (13-3) took home a cash prize of $500,000 to be distributed among their players, while also winning money set aside by the WNBA for a charity of the team’s choice.
Carleton went 6-for-8 from 3-point range and also had four rebounds and three steals, while Napheesa Collier scored 21 points for Minnesota. Reserve Cecilia Zandalasini chipped in 15 points, Kayla McBride scored 12 and Courtney Williams added 11 points and eight assists.
It’s the first Commissioner’s Cup title for the Lynx. A different team has won the WNBA’s midseason tournament in each of its four years of existence.
Breanna Stewart led the Liberty (15-3) with 24 points while pulling down 11 rebounds, and Sabrina Ionescu tallied 23 points and 10 boards. Kayla Thornton added 17 points, while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had 13.
Liberty center Jonquel Jones, the 2021 WNBA MVP, struggled to find open looks and didn’t score her first points until there was 81 seconds left in the game. She finished with three points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Notably, the stats and result from Tuesday’s game do not count toward the regular season.
Minnesota locked down defensively in the third quarter, outscoring the Liberty 19-10 to take a 66-60 edge into the fourth.
Zandalasini got the Lynx’s lead up to 70-60 with 9:01 to go before Stewart took over. She went on a personal 9-0 run, getting New York within a point with 6:56 remaining.
However, Minnesota never gave up the lead, and after Carleton knocked down a trey with 1:51 left to increase the gap to 88-77, the Lynx cruised to the finish.
The Liberty pulled away for a 10-point advantage with 3:51 left in the second quarter thanks to a 14-5 run that was powered by three straight makes from Ionescu, who effortlessly mixed her jumper with a smooth floater.
However, the Lynx were within 50-47 at the break, even after New York’s Courtney Vandersloot made a layup with 7.7 seconds left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
