New York Liberty shooting for 1st WNBA title

MINNEAPOLIS — The New York Liberty are trying win their first WNBA title in the team’s 27-year history.
After losing Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx on the road, New York will try to clinch the championship at home. 
Game 5 tips off from Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 8 p.m. Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN. 
“My mindset is do whatever I can to get the win,” New York power forward Breanna Stewart said before Game 4. “This is something we’ve worked for the entire off-season, season to get to this point and now we just go and do it.” 
Liberty point guard Sabrina Ionescu, whose incredible game-winning shot in Game 3 gave the Liberty a 2-1 series lead, said she’s excited and nervous about potentially making history. 
“I think we all understand that and it’s all within our control. We don’t have to play a perfect game to win and I think that’s been the beauty of this team. We just have to go out and be who we are and play our roles to the best of our abilities, and if we do that we come out with a win,” Ionescu said. 
The Liberty are more popular than ever this season, and a WNBA championship would be the icing on the cake. 
“New York’s a basketball city and they’ve embraced me with open arms, obviously the franchise,” Stewart said, “and they continue to have our back and they will tonight from afar, and we just want to bring it home for them.” 
Not all Liberty fans watched the games in Minnesota from afar. Many flew to Minneapolis to cheer on the players 1,200 miles from their homecourt.
“We’re hoping tonight. Let’s wrap it up. Let’s not go back to New York,” said Estelle and Mike Remson, from New Jersey. “They’re one of the original franchises. They need to win a championship. Sabrina needs to hit the three tonight to win it.” 
“We’re in the driver seat and we kind of control our own destiny,” Ionescu said. “We’re excited to come out tonight and just embrace the opportunity to come into an opposing arena and win a game that could make history.” 

Mark Prussin

contributed to this report.