WNBA Playoff Upset: Liberty Sweep Top-Seeded Lynx to Reach the Semifinals as a No. 8 Seed
A historic WNBA playoff upset was completed in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, when the eighth-seeded New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 and finished a two-game sweep. According to the Associated Press, no No. 8 seed had eliminated a No. 1 seed in the league's 30-year history.
Why this WNBA playoff upset counts as a first
The record comes with a structural caveat. Before 2022 the league used several playoff formats, and many of them never put a No. 8 seed opposite a No. 1 seed, as the AP pointed out. Since the current format began, in which the top eight teams open with a best-of-three round, this is the first time the lowest seed has taken down the highest, the Japan Times noted.
Naming conventions also differ. Several outlets call this round the quart...