The New York Liberty holds up the championship trophy after defeating the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA basketball final series, in New York. (AP)

NEW YORK, Oct 21, (AP): The New York Liberty finally have a WNBA championship after beating the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime of a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night. Jonquel Jones scored 17 points to lead New York, one of the league's original franchises.

The Liberty made the WNBA Finals five times before, losing each one, including last season. They wouldn’t be denied this time, although it took an extra five minutes. The win gave the city of New York its first basketball title since 1973 when the Knicks won the NBA championship. Other players stepped up with stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggling on offense.

Leonie Fiebich started OT with a 3-pointer, and then Nyara Sabally had a steal for a layup to make it 65-60 and bring the sellout crowd to an agitated state. Minnesota didn’t score in OT until Kayla McBride hit two free throws with 1:51 left. The Lynx missed all six of their field goal attempts in overtime. After Ionescu missed a shot with 21 seconds left, her 18th miss on 19 shot attempts, the Lynx had one last chance, but Bridget Carleton missed a 3-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.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock the players hugged and streamers fell from the rafters Napheesa Collier scored 22 points to lead Minnesota before fouling out with 13 seconds left in OT.