Stewart defeated the Liberty Lynx to tie the series

NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart scored 21 points and Paolaijah 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 shifted to Minnesota for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

Just like in Game 1, New York built a double-digit lead in the first half, only to see it evaporate. This time they are not completely broken.

Minnesota trailed by nine in the fourth before Courtney Williams got within 68-66 with 3:40 left in the game. That was the last point Minnesota would score.

Laney-Hamilton capped another Lynx comeback with a 3-pointer in the corner to start a 12-0 run. Stewart's putback with 57 seconds left gave New York a double-digit advantage. Stewart missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in regulation in Game 1 that would have clinched the contest for New York.

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

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

Once again the game drew a sellout crowd of 18,046 that included Jennifer Hudson, Katie Couric, Fat Joe and UConn coach Geno Auriemma. Auriemma has had interest from both teams, along with Stewart and Collier.

With the win, New York avoided falling to 0-2 and making a historic comeback. All 20 teams lost series after trailing 0-2 in the best-of-five finals.

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

The Liberty extended the lead to 46-31 before Minnesota closed to 10 at the half.

The Lynx got within 57-53 late in the third quarter before Stewart made two free throws, had a huge block on the other end and then made a jumper out of the quarter to give New York a 61-53 advantage. from the fourth

The Lynx scored 11 of the next 15 to briefly get within striking distance before the Liberty took a 64-55 lead early in the fourth.