• New York are first No 8 seed to beat first seed

• Liberty ease to 2-0 series victory over Minnesota

Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the No 8 seed New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on Tuesday night to advance to the semi-finals.

Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No 8 seed to eliminate a No 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history. The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats, and in many of them, it wasn’t possible for those seeds to match up. However, in 2022 the league changed to the current iteration in which the top-eight teams play in the quarter-finals.

• Breanna Stewart scored 34 points with 12 rebounds

• Lynx face must-win Game 2 in New York on Tuesday

Breanna Stewart produced yet another clutch performance in the WNBA playoffs with 34 points and 12 rebounds for the New York Liberty in a 91-75 victory over the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx to open their best-of-three first-round series on Sunday.

Stewart, the two-time league MVP, added six assists, two steals and two blocks. She shot 11 for 18 from the floor with her friend and former college teammate Napheesa Collier, the 2024 WNBA defensive player of the year, guarding her most of the afternoon.