Five-time losing finalists, the New York Liberty, can finally call themselves WNBA champions after defeating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime of a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night in Brooklyn.

Bahamian Jonquel Jones scored 17 points to lead New York, which was one of the original franchises in the league.

The win gave the city of New York its first basketball title since 1973, when the Knicks won the NBA championship.

With stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggling offensively, other players stepped up for the Liberty, mainly Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally.

Fiebich, a rookie from Germany, started off overtime with a three-pointer before Nyara Sabally had a steal for a layup to make it 65-60 and bring the sellout crowd to its feet.

Minnesota didn’t score in the extra period until Kayla McBride hit two free throws with 1:51 left.

The Lynx, five-time WNBA Champions, missed all six of their field goal attempts in overtime.

After Ionescu missed a shot with 21 seconds left, her 18th miss in 19 shot attempts, the Lynx had one last chance, but Bridget Carleton missed a three-pointer with 16 seconds left.

Stewart, who missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in Game 1, hit two free throws with 10.1 seconds left to seal the victory.

Jones was named Finals MVP with averages of 17.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 56 percent shooting throughout the five games.

During Game 5, Jones finished with 17 points, six rebounds and one assist to help the Liberty grab the title.

Cheryl Reeve lashed out at the officiating after her Minnesota Lynx team lost 67-62 to the New York Liberty in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

The Liberty clinched their first championship with an overtime victory on Sunday.

Yet Reeve, who has won four titles with the Lynx, was left seething after a disputed foul handed New York's Breanna Stewart the chance to restore parity with 5.2 seconds of the game remaining in regulation time.

She did not hold back during her postgame media duties.

"We know we could have done some things, right, but you shouldn't have to overcome to that extent," Reeve said.

"This s*** ain't that hard. Officiating is not that hard.

"Bring it on, because that s*** was stolen from us.

"This is for a championship, for both teams. Let them decide it. What contact is legal should be the same for both teams."

Reeve was not the only big name to criticise the officiating.

LeBron James posted on X: "I'm sorry but that wasn't a foul! Let the damn players dictate the outcome of a close battle-tested game."

Damian Lillard posted on X, too.

"Refs called this game like they knew the assignment in the second half boy. Great game," he wrote.

While Reeve and the Lynx will have to accept defeat, the Liberty celebrated a famous moment in their history.

"This is something special right here and I'm trying not to cry," said Stewart, who finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists.

"We had some ups and downs. This series was tough but we fought through because we wanted to bring it home to this city and this crowd."

Jonquel Jones top-scored with 17 points and was named the WNBA Finals MVP.

"I could never dream of this," said Jones. "It's the biggest moment and you have to lock in if you want to be a champion. It was all about this and us winning together because we really love each other."

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve knows it takes a "special mental toughness" to deal with the pressures of the WNBA Finals.

The Lynx are 2-1 down to the New York Liberty following a 77-80 defeat at home on Wednesday.

Minnesota blew a 15-point lead in front of a franchise-record home crowd, but four-time WNBA champion Reeve says the swings in momentum are part and parcel of a Finals series.

"There's so many ups and downs and swings all around, and it takes special mental toughness and physical toughness to sort of weather those swings, and here we are," said Reeve, who has been named WNBA Coach of the Year four times.

"We're disappointed. We're home. We played well and just couldn't come up with the win."

Having sunk half (10/20) of their shots in the opening quarter, the Lynx only converted 19 of 55 for the rest of the game.

They now face the prospect of having to be the first team to overturn a 2-1 deficit heading into the last two fixtures since they won the Finals in 2017.

"I feel like they were making plays at the end of shot clocks and like the coach said, we were getting really good looks," said Napheesa Collier, who finished with a team-leading 22 points for the Lynx.

"We just weren't executing on the offensive end. It's just hard when you get that and then obviously they are a great offensive team."

Breanna Stewart led for the Liberty with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

But Sabrina Ionescu was the hero for New York, with her 3-pointer coming with just two seconds remaining. The Liberty are now just one win away from their first championship.

Ionescu said: "I had to go look at the video really quickly to see how far I was.

"Sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn't. I've practiced that shot a thousand times in my head, on the court, and I feel like that’s just something that as athletes, you put yourself in that position to want to be able to make a shot."

Breanna Stewart believes she showed resilience in bouncing back from New York Liberty's defeat in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, praising her team-mates for their support.

The Liberty avenged their shock defeat to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday, this time holding off their comeback to win 80-66 in Game 2 on Sunday.

Stewart scored 21 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists, also setting a WNBA Finals single-game record with seven steals.

The two-time league MVP was disappointed with the performance in the opener but was much more upbeat after helping to level the series at 1-1.

"The moment the game ended Thursday, I was looking forward to Sunday," Stewart said.

"I can't strive to be the best, to be great, but then be afraid to fail. This is what happens when you put yourself in high-stress, important situations.

"You face possible failure. Yeah, I was upset because we could have won [Thursday's] game. But I'm happy I took the shots. Throughout this entire process, my team has my back every step of the way."

Having played the first two games at home, the Liberty now have two games at the Target Arena to look forward to.

"We embrace it; we like it when it's loud, when it's difficult," Stewart added of their trip to Minnesota. "Hopefully it's going to be an incredible atmosphere for both of those games.

"[It's about] not getting too high or too low; things are going to seem bigger than they are because they are playing at home. I'm sure Minny said the same thing when they're playing here."

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who struggled with knee injuries in the regular season, was also on top form, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range and finishing with 20 points for New York.

Having knocked down the 3-pointer to give the Liberty the lead ahead of their final surge, Laney-Hamilton is hopeful she will be able to build on this performance going forward.

"I think it gives me a little bit of momentum as we continue to go through the series," she said.

"It felt really good because I know I've been struggling, physically, mentally as I've been going through everything."

Game 3 takes place on Wednesday in Minnesota.