Theguardian iconTheguardianSep 30, 2026 ~1 min source read

WNBA playoffs: No 8 Liberty spring historic upset to take down No 1 seed Lynx

Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No 8 seed to eliminate a No 1 seed in the league's 30-year history. The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats, and in many of them, it wasn't possible for those seeds to match up.

WNBA playoffs: No 8 Liberty spring historic upset to take down No 1 seed Lynx

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Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No 8 seed to eliminate a No 1 seed in the league's 30-year history.

The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats, and in many of them, it wasn't possible for those seeds to match up.

However, in 2022 the league changed to the current iteration in which the top-eight teams play in the quarter-finals.

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Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No 8 seed to eliminate a No 1 seed in the league's 30-year history. The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats, and in many of them, it wasn't possible for those seeds to match up. However, in 2022 the league changed to the current iteration in which the top-eight teams play in the quarter-finals.

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New York are first No 8 seed to beat first seed Liberty ease to 2-0 series victory over Minnesota Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the No 8 seed New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on Tuesday night to advance to the semi-finals.

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