Breanna Stewart’s Clutch Play Wows Fans as Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty Eliminate Mystics

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The moment is never too big for Breanna Stewart.

Stewart led the No. 2 seed New York Liberty to a 90-85 overtime win over the No. 7 seed Washington Mystics on Tuesday night at Barclays Center to clinch a berth in the WNBA semifinals.

Stewart notched 27 points, 10 rebounds and two assists and was particularly impressive in overtime to help the Liberty knock out Natasha Cloud and the Mystics from the 2023 postseason.

Sabrina Ionescu didn’t have a glowing performance for New York, but she did her part in the victory, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists to help put the Liberty over the edge. Jonquel Jones also had an impressive evening, finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds and one assist.

Cloud was undeniably the best player on the floor and she led Washington with 33 points, six rebounds and nine assists in what was an impressive performance that even drew some praise from Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James:

While Cloud was impressive, it was Stewart who drew much of the attention on X, formerly known as Twitter, for her clutch performance down the stretch:

Stewart, a two-time WNBA champion, joined the Liberty for the 2023 season after spending the first six years of her career with the Seattle Storm. She’s aiming for her third title in seven seasons.

The Liberty are the second team to clinch a berth in the WNBA semifinals, joining the No. 1 seed Las Vegas Aces, which swept the Chicago Sky in the first round.

New York will face either the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun or No. 6 seed Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals, with Game 1 set for Sept. 24. The Sun and Lynx are tied 1-1 and set for a do-or-die Game 3 on Wednesday.