How long is a WNBA game and what happens if it is tied?
Rule- Canada
- WNBA
- Professional women's basketball
- WNBA Official Rules
- 2026
- Fans
A WNBA game has four periods of ten minutes each, with 15 minutes between halves and 3:00 between the first and second periods and between the third and fourth.
If the score is tied at the end of the fourth period, play resumes after a 3:00 break with five-minute overtime periods, without a change of baskets, until there is a winner.
The game is in "the last two minutes" when the clock shows 2:00 or less in a period. In the last minute of the first, second and third periods, and in the last two minutes of regulation and of overtime, the clock stops after a made field goal. The game clock shows tenths of a second in the last minute of each period.
Added 25 Oct 2026