On June 21, 1997, the New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 67-57, in the first-ever WNBA game. When the two teams met again Sunday on the 30th anniversary of that historic contest, the Sparks were victorious in a thrilling contest that will long be remembered, showing just how far the league has come in the last three decades.
The Sparks trailed by double digits in the first quarter, and by as many as 17 in the third, but stormed all the way back to take the lead late in the fourth. The Liberty responded, however, and were up by two with 8.6 seconds to play.
Playing without a timeout, Erica Wheeler pushed the ball up the floor, and the Sparks tried to run a hammer action to get Kelsey Plum open in the corner, but two Liberty defenders went with her, which left Nneka Ogwumike wide open on the wing. Wheeler hit Ogwumike, who set her feet, let it fly and caught nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.
Take another look at Nneka Ogwumike's game winner‼️#WNBASeason30 pic.twitter.com/L9uobbE1c8
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 22, 2026
The arena erupted as Ogwumike was mobbed by her teammates and Sparks legend Lisa Leslie, who played in that first game 29 years ago, celebrated courtside. An emotional Ogwumike, who months earlier helped finalize the historic new collective bargaining agreement in her role as WNBPA president, was in tears.
"It's emotional seeing all these legends in the building," Ogwumike said. "People that didn't get paid their value, and they're still coming here and supporting us. I'm so grateful."
"Everyone in our locker room wouldn't have picked another person to hit that shot," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said later. "On a night like tonight, where we're honoring the legacy of not only the Sparks but the league, what Nneka has done -- especially getting that new CBA done -- it's powerful when you think about it. That's what sports can do is bring out those moments. You couldn't have scripted it any better."
Here are CBS Sports' latest WNBA Power Rankings:
Biggest Movers 5 Mystics 2 Valkyries RkTeams ChgRcrd 1
Aces The Aces' six-game winning streak ended with an embarrassing 30-point loss to the Wings that caused Becky Hammon to throw a clipboard during a timeout. They bounced back with back-to-back double-digit wins, however, to keep pace with the first-place Lynx. Chennedy Carter, who has not played more than 10 minutes since May and missed all three games last week with an illness, will "probably" return Tuesday or Thursday, Hammon said. -- 2 
Lynx The Lynx blew a six-point lead to the Mystics in the final two and a half minutes on Sunday, which ended their three-game winning streak. Minnesota still hasn't lost a game by more than seven, and its four defeats have come by a combined 16 points. While the Lynx's competitiveness is extremely impressive, they are now 4-4 in clutch games -- the ninth-best record in such outings -- and 9-0 otherwise. -- 3 
Dream The Dream took both ends of a home-and-home with the Fever and have now won five of their last six to improve to 11-4, which is tied for the best start through 15 games in franchise history. Atlanta's offense has come alive in recent weeks, and the roster has overtaken the Lynx for the best offensive rating in the league (112.6). That's thanks primarily to their ability to dominate the possession battle. They're only eighth in true shooting percentage (55.6%), but first in offensive rebounding rate (37.4%) and first in opponent turnover rate (20.3%). 1 4 
Liberty This was a strange week for the Liberty, who extended their winning streak to eight games thanks to a last-second bucket by Sabrina Ionescu against the Sky, but then blew late fourth-quarter leads to the Mystics and Sparks, and lost both games by a combined four points. Speaking of Ionescu, she's averaging 7.4 points on 31.8/27.8/66.7 shooting splits and has nearly as many turnovers (12) as assists (16) through her first five games. 1 5 
Wings The Wings destroyed the Aces by 30, lost to the Valkyries by 11, then pulled off a miracle 17-point comeback to beat the Sky on a pair of last-second free throws by Li Yueru in an ultrachaotic week that was a microcosm of their season. Fittingly, they've now alternated wins and losses in the last seven games. 2 6 
Mystics The Mystics had one of the most impressive weeks by any team this season when they went 3-0, including clutch road wins over the Liberty and Lynx. Washington has suddenly won four of their last five to climb into playoff position. Free-agent signing Michaela Onyenwere is averaging 14.4 points and six rebounds on 55.3% shooting over the last five games, and is now putting up a career-high 11.8 points per game for the season. The Mystics have desperately needed someone to step up and help their Big Three, and Onyenwere has delivered. 5 7 
Valkyries After double-digit victories over the Sparks and Wings to run their winning streak to four games, the Valkyries fell to the Lynx and Aces. They are now 0-4 against the league's two best teams this season and 10-2 against everyone else. That bodes well for the rest of their regular-season campaign, but perhaps not their playoff chances. The Valkyries shot 5 of 30 from 3-point range in their loss to the Aces and, after starting out the season red hot from downtown, are shooting 28.8% in their last five games. 2 8 
Fever The Fever extended their winning streak to a season-best four games with an easy win over the Tempo before losing both ends of a home-and-home with the Dream, and are now 2-5 against teams above them in the standings. They committed 54 fouls and gave up 66 free throws to the Dream in those defeats. For the season, they are now averaging 24 fouls per game, which would be the most in WNBA history, and allowing 20.3 points per game at the free-throw line, which would be the second-most in WNBA history. 2 9 
Sparks After two blowout losses to the Valkyries and Lynx, the Sparks ended the week in style when Nneka Ogwumike hit a buzzer beater to defeat the Liberty on the 30th anniversary of the first ever WNBA game. "It's emotional seeing all these legends in the building," an emotional Ogwumike said after the win. "People that didn't get paid their value, and they're still coming here and supporting us. I'm so grateful." 1 10 
Tempo The Tempo pulled off an incredible 15-point fourth quarter comeback to beat the Sun, end their three-game losing streak and get back to .500. Marina Mabrey poured in a career-high 37 points in that victory and now has five 25-point games this season; only A'ja Wilson (seven) and Kelsey Plum (seven) have more. The Tempo did lose Brittney Sykes to a plantar fasciitis injury in their loss to the Fever, however, and also announced that Kiki Rice's ankle injury is actually a Grade 3 sprain. 1 11 
Fire When the Fire lose, they really lose. Their 33-point defeat to the Lynx this week was tied for the second-worst loss by any team this season, and eight of their nine losses have now been by at least 15 points; no other team has more than five such losses. They did bounce back with a win over the Storm, though, thanks to 24 points from Bridget Carleton. The Fire are now 5-1 when Carleton scores at least 15 points and 3-8 when she does not. 1 12 
Mercury Natasha Mack, Valeriane Ayayi and rookie forward Noemie Brochant all recorded double-doubles in the Mercury's 20-point win over the Storm, which snapped their four-game losing streak. This was the second time this season that the Mercury have had three players record a double-double in the same game; no other team has done so once. The Mercury have temporarily suspended rookie forward Jovana Nogic's contract while she is away from the team for personal reasons. -- 13 
Sun The Sun should have ended their losing streak against the Tempo, but blew a 15-point lead over the final seven minutes to drop their seventh game in a row. Only 10 teams in WNBA history have started a season 2-15 or worse; the Sun have done so two seasons in a row. The Sun are shooting 26.4% from 3-point range, which is not only last in the league, but would be tied for the third-worst mark in league history. -- 14 
Sky It's impossible to come any closer to wins and not get them than the Sky came this week. Against the Liberty, they blew a 15-point lead and lost by one when Sabrina Ionescu hit a game-winner with 10.3 seconds left. Against the Wings, they were up by as many as 17, and still led by six 35.7 seconds left, but lost by one when Li Yueru hit game-winning free throws with 12.5 seconds left. The Sky have now lost five in a row and 10 of their last 11. -- 15 
Storm Two games, two more defeats for the Storm, who have now dropped 10 in a row. That is the longest losing streak by any team this season, and tied for the longest losing streak in franchise history. With the Wings, Liberty and Dream up next, it's hard to see the Storm picking up a win any time soon. A winless June is very much in play. -- Add CBS Sports on Google Join the Conversation comments 
