The New York Liberty made WNBA history, becoming the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed with an 87-71 win over the Minnesota Lynx in Game 2 of their playoff series on Tuesday night.

Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Breanna Stewart added 21 points to help New York advance to a semifinal matchup against the winner of the Atlanta-Washington series. The Dream are up 1-0 and play at Washington on Wednesday night. The semifinals begin Sunday.

The 30-year WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats. And in many of the formats, it wasn't possible for those seeds to match up. However, in 2022 the league changed to the current format in which the top eight teams play in the quarterfinals.

A year after losing in the first round to Phoenix after going up 1-0 in that series, New York was determined not to have that happen again.

The Liberty were up five points after one quarter and led 40-35 with 2:39 left in the half. New York scored nine of the final 11 points in the second quarter to go up 49-37 at the break.

New York was up 52-39 with 6:26 left in the third when Stewart drove to the basket and was hit in the face by Olivia Miles as she tried to block the shot. Stewart was down for a minute as the officials reviewed the play and upgraded the play to a Flagrant-1 foul.

As Stewart walked off the court, she raised her hands to the sellout crowd of 17,593, who serenaded her with M-V-P! chants. Stewart hit both free throws.

The Lynx's season ended in disappointment again. The Lynx had the best regular-season record, but just couldn't put it together against New York. On Monday, Cheryl Reeve won the league's Coach of the Year and Miles was a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.

NEXT STOP SEMIFINALS

WE ALL WE GOT, WE ALL WE NEED pic.twitter.com/jxeAkaRf7t

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) September 30, 2026

Clark helps Fever stay alive

Caitlin Clark had 27 points and 15 assists, Kelsey Mitchell added 26 points and the Indiana Fever beat the Las Vegas Aces 99-89 to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

A winner-take-all Game 3 will take place on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Clark had 14 points and 11 assists by halftime, becoming the first WNBA player to have a points-assists double-double in a single half of a postseason game. She added seven rebounds and made five 3-pointers.

Indiana trailed 26-18 at the end of the first quarter, but Clark dished out eight assists in the second quarter, and the Fever led by as many as 15 in the second half.

Mitchell was 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and Aliyah Boston scored an efficient 22 points as the Fever outscored the Aces 58-26 in the paint.

A’ja Wilson, who will likely win her fifth career league MVP award in the coming days, had 22 points and nine rebounds after scoring 38 in Game 1.

Jackie Young added 31 points for the Aces, while Chelsea Gray finished with 10 points and seven assists.

work of art pic.twitter.com/xiNiJqpIPs

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 30, 2026