MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Courtney Williams scored a season-high 26 points, Kayla McBride hit a deep 3-pointer with 30.8 seconds left and the Minnesota Lynx beat the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty 86-80 on Saturday.

New York beat the Lynx 3-2 in the best-of-five 2024 WNBA Finals to win the franchise's first championship. Since then, Minnesota has won three straight against the Liberty.

Minnesota (28-5) has won six in a row and 10 of 11 overall.

DiJonnai Carrington won a jump ball against Natasha Cloud with 25.2 seconds left and the Liberty were forced to foul. McBride — who went into the game shooting 93.8% (75 of 80) from the line this season — hit two of four free throws before Jessica Shepard made two free throws to cap the scoring with 3.6 seconds left.

McBride finished with 17

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