New York Liberty defeated Minnesota Lynx 80-66

Breanna Stewart scored 21 points and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton added 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx 80-66 in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday.

The win evened the series at 1-1 as it moves to Minnesota for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

Just like in Game 1, New York built a double-digit lead in the first half, but it evaporated. This time they didn't completely collapse.

Minnesota trailed by nine early in the fourth before getting within 68-66 on Courtney Williams' layup with 3:40 to play. Those were the last points Minnesota would score.

Laney-Hamilton answered with a 3-pointer in the corner, starting a 12-0 run that ended any chance of another Lynx comeback. Stewart's putback with 57 seconds left gave New York a double-digit lead. Stewart missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in regulation Game 1 that would have led New York to victory in the contest.

The two-time MVP didn't let herself lose Game 2. She also had eight rebounds, five assists and a Finals record seven steals.

Napheesa Collier had 16 points and Williams added 15 for the Lynx.

Once again, the game drew a sellout crowd of 18,046, including Jennifer Hudson, Katie Couric, Fat Joe and UConn coach Geno Auriemma. Auriemma had a lot of interest in both teams with Stewart and Collier.

With the win, New York avoided a 2-0 defeat and a historic comeback. All 20 teams that had lost 0-2 in the best-of-five final had lost the series.

New York led 23-21 before scoring the final eight points of the first quarter to take a 31-21 lead at halftime. Sabrina Ionescu had 10 of her 15 points in the first 10 minutes and Stewart added seven.

The Liberty extended the lead to 46-31 before Minnesota got within 10 at halftime.

Late in the third quarter, the Lynx got within 57-53 before Stewart hit two free throws, made a massive block on the other end, and then capped it all off with a jump shot from the quarter to give New York a 61-head lead: 53 to get until the fourth.

The Liberty led 64-55 early in the fourth before the Lynx scored 11 of the next 15 goals and briefly came within striking distance.