Sabrina bewitches Lynx to extend Allen's WNBA career

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WNBA Scores: New York Liberty 87 def. Minnesota Lynx 71 (Final)

Australian veteran Rebecca Allen, 33, and the eighth-seeded New York Liberty have swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx out of the 2026 WNBA playoffs, winning Game 2 87-71 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Wednesday (AEST) to push the final season of Allen's career into the semi-finals.

New York scored the first basket of the game through Jonquel Jones and never trailed, leading 26-21 after the first quarter and 49-37 at half-time, and pushing the margin as far as 19 points. Jones finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds on 9-from-14 shooting, Breanna Stewart added 21 points and went 9-from-9 from the free-throw line, and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 points and seven assists, hitting 4-from-10 from three.

Courtney Williams led Minnesota with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride scored 14 each, but the Lynx shot 26-from-68 from the field and did not lead at any stage. Minnesota had the best record in the league in the regular season at 33-11, and New York finished 26-18.

Allen came off the bench to start the second quarter and blocked Collier's turnaround jumper 12 seconds after checking in. She played three stints for 11 minutes, missed both of her shots from three, and finished with two rebounds, a block and four fouls, while New York was plus-7 with her on the floor. The Opals veteran announced in early August that she will retire from all basketball at the end of this season, and the sweep means that season now runs into the semi-finals.

Fellow Australian Anneli Maley, 28, did not play for New York, and on the other bench Opals forward Chloe Bibby, 28, was also a DNP (coach's decision) for Minnesota, two days after she scored the Lynx's last five points in Game 1.

• Rebecca Allen (NYL): 11 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1 TO, 1 BLK, 0-2 FG, 0-2 3PT, 0-0 FT, +7
• Anneli Maley (NYL): DNP (coach's decision)
• Chloe Bibby (MIN): DNP (coach's decision)

New York wins the best-of-three first-round series 2-0.

Rebecca Allen's farewell season goes on in the WNBA semi-finals, with New York's opponent and schedule yet to be confirmed.

WNBA Scores: Indiana Fever 99 def. Las Vegas Aces 89 (Final)

Australian forward Stephanie Talbot, 32, started for the third-seeded Las Vegas Aces in a 99-89 loss to the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday (AEST), a result that levels their first-round series 1-1 and sends it back to Las Vegas for a deciding Game 3.

Las Vegas led 26-18 after the first quarter and by 11 early in the second, but Indiana won the second quarter 30-17 and went in front for good at 40-39 with 2:48 left in the half, on a Raven Johnson driving layup from a Clark assist. The Fever led 48-43 at half-time, stretched the margin to 15 late in the third quarter and held off a fourth-quarter push that cut the gap to 76-73 with 7:34 left.

Clark finished with 27 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds, shooting 5-from-11 from three, while Kelsey Mitchell scored 26 and went 9-from-11 from the free-throw line, and Aliyah Boston had 22 points on 10-from-15 shooting as Indiana scored 58 points in the paint.

Jackie Young led Las Vegas with 31 points and made all 13 of her free throws, and A'ja Wilson added 22 points and nine rebounds, going 12-from-13 from the line, but the Aces shot 25-from-59 from the field, and 30 of their 89 points came from the free-throw line.

Talbot played 27 minutes for nine points, five rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal, one point more than she scored in Game 1. She blocked Mitchell's layup in the first quarter, made layups from Wilson and Young assists in the second, then hit a 5-foot jumper from a Wilson pass and blocked Clark's running jumper in the last minute of the half, before scoring on a Jewell Loyd assist with 3:44 left in the game. The Opals forward shot 4-from-6 from the field, missed both of her threes, went 1-from-2 from the free-throw line, finished with five personal fouls and was minus-7 in her minutes.

Indiana has no Australian on its roster, so Talbot is the only Australian in the series.

• Stephanie Talbot (LV): 27 MIN, 9 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2 TO, 2 BLK, 4-6 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1-2 FT, -7

The best-of-three first-round series is tied 1-1, and the winner of Game 3 advances to the semi-finals. Las Vegas finished the regular season 31-13, and Indiana finished 28-16.

Game 3 is in Las Vegas at Michelob ULTRA Arena at 11:00am AEST on Friday, October 2 (9:00pm EDT Thursday, October 1).