The semifinals of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) playoffs began on Sunday, Sept. 29, as the league caps off a legendary, record-breaking season. Two nearby teams, the New York Liberty and the Connecticut Sun, are competing for a spot in this year’s finals.
Eight teams had advanced to the playoffs from 12 nationwide. The first round of the tournament’s format was a best of three series. No surprises took place the first week. Every team that moved forward was expected to do so, with the four higher seeded teams all besting their opponents 2-0. The semifinals and finals will be a best of five matchup.
Within a three-hour drive from Poughkeepsie, the Sun and Liberty advanced to the second round with ease. They will face the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces, respectively.
The matchup between the Liberty and the Aces is a rematch from last year’s WNBA finals where the Aces, under head coach Becky Hammon, beat Sandy Brondello’s Liberty 3-1.
The Liberty are looking for revenge in 2024, and they seem poised to get it, having beaten the Aces in all of their regular season matchups while dominating the league’s standings. Their regular season record was a menacing 32-8.
The Liberty, however, are going up against their own history. They are the only original WNBA franchise to have never won a WNBA championship, having lost five times in the finals in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2023.
However, the team appeared ready to work in their two first-round games against the Atlanta Dream, both played at home in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Courtney Vandersloot, a point guard and 2021 WNBA champion with the Chicago Sky, was swapped out of the starting lineup with Leonie Fiebich who dominated with 21 points, the most ever for a Liberty player’s playoff debut. The switch has proved successful and is likely here to stay deeper into their playoff run.
Rounding out a sensational starting five were Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton and Breanna Stewart— and Sabrina Ionescu with a career playoff high of 36 points in the Liberty’s second win over the Dream.
The Nevada Aces are headed by the formidable A’ja Wilson, this season’s (Most Valuable Players) MVP and last year’s finals MVP. Keeping the 6 feet 4 inches center at bay will be key for Liberty’s success. I would bet on a sea of seafoam taking New York, and their beloved mascot Ellie the Elephant, to the final. Ellie deserves a championship ring this fall.
While the Lynx seem to be on track to take down the Sun, our next-door neighbors could very well seal their spot in the final two. With two great defenses, the matchup could be the biggest nail-biter of the tournament.
For the good of the eastern seaboard, and Sun’s Alyssa Thomas, I hope Stephanie White’s team comes out on top over Cheryl Reeve’s Lynx.
White returned to the WNBA after coaching at Vanderbilt at the start of the 2023 season. Her crew’s playoff run consists of two dominant wins over the Indiana Fever, the team of breakout star and Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark. White coached the Fever to their last playoff appearance in 2016.
The game made headlines over racist remarks reported from the crowd. Players and coaches from around the league have condemned the abuse and recent uptick in online harassment experienced by players. The WNBA is growing, but that growth should never translate to threats to players’ safety.
Whichever of the final four make it to the end, the final series is set to begin on Thursday, Oct. 10, ending a season that began in May.
With the U.S. Women’s National Team winning their eighth straight gold medal over France at the Paris Olympics in August (the most dominant winning streak across Olympic team sports), and the South Carolina Gamecocks win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in April, drawing in nearly nineteen million viewers, this year in basketball will be hard to forget. The end of this tournament looks to continue the momentum 2024 has built.