Breanna Stewart ‘Manifested’ Historic WNBA Championship for New York Liberty

‘There’s no feeling like it,’ the star forward said following the exciting Sunday night victory.

Breanna Stewart / Elsa/Getty Images

New York City will go by “Stew York City” for the next several days as the Big Apple celebrates a historic New York Liberty win. Breanna Stewart, the team’s star forward, led the team to its first WNBA championship victory in franchise history at Barclays Center last night in an exciting game five win in overtime against the Minnesota Lynx. The 30-year-old hit two free throws with mere seconds left to tie the game, which ended in a 67-62 victory for the Liberty in overtime.

The Liberty entered the finals as the only original WNBA franchise without a championship title, despite making it to the tournament on five separate occasions. Last year, the team lost to the Las Vegas Aces.

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“I’ve been like manifesting this moment for a while and there’s no feeling like it,” Stewart, a Syracuse, N.Y., native, gushed in a press conference before taking a sip of champagne straight from the bottle. “ ... And credit to Minnesota because they gave us a tough series. The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone, but to be able to bring a championship to New York, the first ever in franchise history, it’s an incredible feeling and I literally can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city, because I know it’s gonna like, be bonkers”

Mayor Eric Adams announced this afternoon that a ticker tape parade will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24, in downtown Manhattan, followed by a special City Hall ceremony. Several municipal buildings around the city will also be lit up in the team’s seafoam shade this evening in honor of the Liberty’s victory.

Stewart, a 2022 SI Swimsuit model and Olympic gold medalist, shared the sweetest pic with her wife, Marta Xargay, and the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup trophy, on Instagram.

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“For the city🗽,” the mom of two captioned the carousel, which included tons of team photos, game highlights and pics with her kids, Theo and Ruby.

“For YOU, for your team, for husky nation, for your family and NYC!!! That Empire state building was Liberty colors about 2 seconds after the WIN. We were Ready, so deserved! THANK YOU 💚💛💙🩵💙🧡🩷🤎💫🗽🗽🗽🗽,” one fan gushed.

After leading her alma mater, the University of Connecticut, to four consecutive NCAA championships, Stewart was the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft and landed with the Seattle Storm. She was named Rookie of the Year in 2016, then led the Storm to WNBA Championship titles in 2018 and ’20.