Betnijah Laney-Hamilton shot helps stave off another collapse as Liberty draw even in WNBA Finals

From her spot in the corner, the same one that Betnijah Laney-Hamilton turned into her signature shot — her go-to location where she could space away from the Liberty’s other stars — during last year’s run to the Finals, Laney-Hamilton had a window.A brief one, but enough to get something off.

She could catch the pass from Sabrina Ionescu, collect herself for a moment and elevate.There were plenty of moments during the season the Liberty needed Laney-Hamilton and didn’t have her available.A knee injury prompted a mid-season clean-up procedure around the Olympic break.

She missed 12 regular-season games.But with the Liberty’s 17-point lead in Game 2 on Sunday cut to two, and the danger of falling into a 2-0 deficit inching closer to becoming a reality, there was Laney-Hamilton, the defensive-anchor-turned-offensive-spark, back in the corner and watching her shot fall through the net as the Liberty’s lead extended to five.

There was Laney-Hamilton, grabbing the defensive rebound on the next possession.And the Lynx never got closer than that the rest of the way, with the Liberty escaping after a 80-66 win to even the series after the blueprint that worked throughout the season and helped them arrive at this juncture to begin with worked again.They held Lynx star Napheesa Collier, on pace to have the highest-scoring postseason in league history, to just 16 points.

And a balanced offense — led by Breanna Stewart with 21 and Laney-Hamiltion with 20 — provided just enough of a cushion.The optics with a second loss to Minnesota weren’t good.The Lynx were already the only team to defeat the Liberty multiple times during the regular season, and the Liberty were already tasked with overcoming any emotional hangover that stemmed from their collapse on Thursday, when Stewart missed a free throw to win at the end of regulation after the Liberty blew a double-digit lead.So head coach Sandy Brondello was fine with the two days off in between games.

Jonquel ...