SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
For the first-ever time, the New York Liberty WNBA franchise has made it past the opening round and into the playoff semifinals as league Most Valuable Player Brianna Stewart paved the way with her masterful all-around game Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The 6-foot-6 Stewart, out of Syracuse, converted 10 of 10 free throws, took down 13 rebounds, and had the team-high 26 points in the 90-85 overtime win over the Washington Stars in the best-of-three series. Both teams missed foul shots in the final charity tosses, Stewart included, but in the OT it was she made both.
The next stop for the Liberty, the No. 2-seeded team, is against the current Connecticut-Minnesota winner in their two-of-three, with the teams at 1-each and play the deciding game Wednesday nightin Minneapolis after splitting the first two in Connecticut.
Las Vegas is the No. 1 seed having won its division by four games, while New York won its division by three places. Las Vegas will play the Liberty survivor in the championship game.
