Triumph with New York
Basketball players Fiebich and Sabally celebrate WNBA titles
The New York Liberty won the WNBA championship for the first time. photo
© Pamela Smith/AP/dpa
The German basketball players Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally are champions in the WNBA. In the final triumph with New York Liberty, the national players played a decisive role in a thriller.
The German national basketball players Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally won the WNBA championship. The duo and New York Liberty prevailed at home against the Minnesota Lynx 67:62 (27:34, 60:60) after overtime in the decisive fifth final of the North American Elite League. The Germans played a decisive role in the triumph in an exciting finish, as they scored five of New York’s seven points in extra time.
At the sixth attempt, Liberty won their first title. The team from New York had previously lost a final series five times, most recently last year against the Las Vegas Aces. The two German basketball players each scored 13 points and seven rebounds. Fiebich opened the extra time with a successful three-pointer, Sabally scored the next two points for New York.
New York makes a comeback in the second half
New York’s best thrower was Jonquel Jones with 17 points, who was also named the best player in the final series. Breanna Stewart saved the Liberty into overtime with two free throws five seconds before the end of regular time.
The hosts were consistently behind until the 27th minute of the game, with a difference of up to twelve points in the first half. New York made a comeback in the third quarter, also thanks to Sabally: The 24-year-old scored nine points in the last three and a half minutes of the period.
The final series between New York and Minnesota was extremely exciting: For the first time since 2019, the WNBA finals went the full distance of five games; in four games the difference was a maximum of five points.
