Breanna Stewart

Extraordinary in her own right during Game Three’s high-profile, head-to-head battle against a fellow ex-Husky on the Minnesota Lynx’s side, Breanna Stewart countered her opponent’s record-breaking postseason scoring display, fittingly, by becoming a broken record of her own. A recurring name over Minnesota's loudspeakers, Stewart — from the 46-second mark of the third quarter through the six-minute point of the fourth — erupted for 13 unanswered points, ultimately sparking the New York Liberty’s double-digit, come-from-behind victory. Within the display was a dose of everything, as the two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player mixed in trusted one-legged fadeaways, patented pull-ups, and generous appearances at the charity stripe, flipping a once-unsettling 12.3 percent win probability on its head. Eyeing a scoreboard that showed a deficit and pledging to her teammates that they wouldn’t lose, Stewart fulfilled the promise through 30 points (on 9-of-20 shooting), 11 rebounds, one steal, four blocks, and two 3-pointers. Earning one final boost through her All-Star teammate’s miraculous game-winning triple soon thereafter, Stewart’s Liberty moved to within just a single game of its franchise’s first-ever WNBA championship on October 16, 2024.

Championship Year