NEW YORK — Courtney Williams raced past her defender and ran into the lane. But instead of a clear path to the basket, she was met by Breanna Stewart's long arms. Stewart took the ball out of the air, fought his way down the floor past Napheesa Collier and found Sabrina Ionescu on the opposite wing for a sidestep 3-pointer.

It was only the second possession of the game, but the tone was set. In New York's 80-66 victory in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, Stewart was an inescapable defensive presence everywhere on the court. She set a WNBA Finals record with seven steals and helped lead the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season (in games where Collier was available). With the Liberty facing a must-win situation, it was their defensive performance under Stewart's leadership that evened the series heading into Minnesota.

“She was all over the floor, just wreaking havoc, getting in the gaps and making it difficult,” New York guard Courtney Vandersloot said. “She had seven steals, which is crazy and really made a big impact on that side.”

After Game 1, Stewart lamented New York's defensive performance, saying the Lynx never felt uncomfortable en route to a 50/40/90 shooting performance. To combat this, the Liberty had to apply more pressure. For Stewart, that meant more points in the half field. In Game 1, Leonie Fiebich pressured Williams up high but got no help from her teammates up front, allowing the Lynx to keep her out of possession and create a run to the basket. Stewart and Jonquel Jones realized they needed to step in alongside Fiebich to stifle Minnesota's offense at the point of attack.

“The thought process was we tried to be a little bit higher up and not let them get to the 3-point line to set up their offense,” Stewart said.

As a result, Stewart found himself almost in the middle of the court, forcing opposing guards to continue their dribbling. She kept her hands up at the 3-point line to deflect follow-up passes and also defended the other end, using her 7-foot-1 wingspan to defend her opponent downfield.

Stewart's activity during the game changed the Lynx's ability to get on offense. Minnesota had seven more turnovers than its season average and seven fewer field goal attempts. Of the shots the Lynx managed, more than usual came from mid-range and the paint outside of the restricted area as the Liberty forced them into less-than-ideal areas of the court.

“We felt their defensive impact,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said.

In addition to serving as the all-world disruptive help defender, Stewart also had the most difficult individual defensive assignment as he had to cover Collier. The first step to limiting the Lynx superstar was locking Williams down so that Collier was already under pressure when she got the ball, and then it was a matter of refining Collier's specific moves.

“Of course I knew her tendencies,” Stewart said. “She wants to go left, she wants to go over the right shoulder. She'll pump fake a million times. So just stay down and force her to keep making hard shots that she doesn’t want to make.”

When Stewart defended Collier one-on-one, Collier scored two out of five balls but also committed three turnovers, leading to four points in eight games. Collier finished the game with 16 points and three assists and wasn't able to impact the outcome as much as he did on Thursday.

Stewart also had a sense of the moment on Sunday. Although New York led the entire game, the Lynx were able to get within two points twice in the fourth quarter. On two of those possessions, Stewart took the ball away, preventing Minnesota from even attempting a basket to tie the game.

With the Lynx trailing 66-64, Stewart disrupted Williams again by subbing in as the second defender on a substitution, forcing the Minnesota guard to lose control, which Stewart immediately pounced on. On the ensuing possession, Stewart was elbowed with Collier and dived to steal the inbound pass away from Williams; On the other hand, Jones scored and the lead never fell below four points again.

“It's huge when the best player, the leader, plays as hard as she does night in and night out and impacts the game in different ways,” Vandersloot said. “It’s a great motivation for everyone and it sets the standard for us.”

Game 2 wasn't necessarily about redemption for Stewart, but rather about moving forward and changing the narrative. Stewart strives to be consistent every night whether the shots are falling or not, and her team-high 21 points were almost an afterthought compared to the destruction she caused on the other side.

(Photo by Breanna Stewart: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)