New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart stayed calm under the pressure as she led the team to its first WNBA title with a thrilling 67-62 overtime victory in the decisive fifth game of the WNBA Finals series against the Minnesota Lynx on October 20.

Stewart, who scored 13 points in the game, drained a pair of free throws in the extra session to seal the victory and the title. She said she was determined to shoot, especially after missing a potential game-winning free throw in Game 1, which the Lynx won in overtime.

“I went through a similar situation in what happened in Game 1 and I missed and made sure that didn’t happen,” Stewart said while appearing on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on October 21 with teammates Sabrina Ionescu, Leonie Fiebich, Ivana Dojkić , Kayla Thornton and Nyara Sabally.

Stewart, a two-time WNBA MVP who was also twice named WNBA Finals MVP while leading the Seattle Storm to a pair of championships before joining the Liberty, said she tried to keep things simple at the time.

“I was just doing my routine and thinking about making one. Make one and then you make the next one and know that my teammates had my back the whole time,” she said.

Stewart, who signed with the Liberty as a free agent before the 2023 season, said it is a dream to lead the team to victory at home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“Just an incredible feeling. Finally we did it. We worked so hard to get to this point and celebrate it in Brooklyn, at Barclays, it was crazy,” she said.

The Liberty, who lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the finals last season, claimed New York’s first professional basketball title since the New York Nets, led by Julius Erving – better known as Dr. J – won the ABA title in 1976.