NEW YORK — As confetti fell and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared through the arena, the Liberty celebrated the end of a long odyssey.

The team that always fell short, starting from their days in Madison Square Garden, through detours to Radio City Music Hall and Westchester County Center, finally found their way to the top.

Start spreading the news, indeed: There’s finally a pro basketball champion in New York again after a 67-62 overtime win over the Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday night.

“I’ve been manifesting this moment for awhile, There’s no feeling like it,” Breanna Stewart said. “Credit to Minnesota, they gave us a tough series. The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone. To bring a championship to New York, first ever in franchise history it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city. It’s going to be bonkers.”

Jonquel Jones scored 17 points to lead the Liberty, who were one of the original franchises in the league. The Liberty made the Finals five times before, losing each one, including last season. This time they wouldn’t be denied, although it took an extra five minutes.

With stars Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggling on offense, other players stepped up. Leonie Fiebich started off OT with a 3-pointer, and then Nyara Sabally, who finished with 13 points, had a steal for a layup to make it 65-60 and bring the sellout crowd to a frenzied state.

“Whoever scores in overtime first usually wins,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.

The Lynx didn’t score in OT until Kayla McBride hit two free throws with 1:51 left. They 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 the end of regulation in Game 1, hit two free throws with 10.1 seconds left in overtime to seal the victory.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock the players hugged and streamers fell from the rafters at Barclays Center. Stewart and Jones hugged. The two prize free agent signees two years ago helped get this team its first title.

The Liberty trailed by two in regulation when Stewart was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. After a lengthy video review, Stewart calmly hit two free throws to tie the game at 60. The Lynx had challenged the foul call and after the game coach Cheryl Reeve still questioned it, saying the title was stolen from her team.

McBride, who finished with 21 points, had an open look for a 3, but it fell off the rim and the game went to OT.

Many of the former Liberty greats were in the audience, including Teresa Weatherspoon, who hit a half-court heave in the 1999 Finals to force a decisive Game 3 that year. That was the last time that the Liberty had a chance to play in a championship-deciding game until this year.

Jones, who was the only player on the Liberty to compete in a Game 5 before when she was with the Sun in 2019, earned MVP honors.

“I could never dream of this. You know how many times I’ve been denied. It was delayed. I am so happy to do it here,” she said.

Napheesa Collier scored 22 points to lead the Lynx before fouling out with 13 seconds left in OT.

The Lynx were trying for a record fifth WNBA title, breaking a tie with the Storm and now-defunct Comets. The Lynx won four titles from 2011-17 behind the core group of Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore. That was the team’s last appearance in the Finals until this year.

“Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” Reeve said. “It took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth, it just didn’t happen.”

This is the first time since 2019 that the Finals have gone the distance. Since the league switched to a best-of-five format in 2005, seven other series have gone to a Game 5 and the home team had won five of those previous contests, including in 2019. The Finals will expand to seven gaves next season.

This series has been a fitting conclusion to a record-breaking season for the league. All five games came down to the last few possessions and have included two overtime games and a last-second shot, which have led to record ratings.