Sabrina Ionescu hit a big three-pointer at the top of the arc to secure an 80-77 victory for the New York Liberty in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
Target Center hosted a franchise-high 19,521 fans when the best-of-five series moved to Minnesota. They were not disappointed as the Lynx and Liberty faced off in a very close game.
Minutes after Breanna Stewart yelled ‘We’re not going to lose this game,’ amid a second-half explosion against the Lynx, Ionescu put the exclamation point on Minnesota. The comeback gave New York a 2-1 series lead.
With a deadlock at 77-77 and 10.9 seconds on the clock, Liberty took the ball from the sideline.
After a quick give-and-take with rookie Leonie Fiebich, Ionescu found herself isolated near the logo. As time expired, Ionescu pulled away from Kayla McBride, pulled the trigger and hit nothing but the net with 1.1 seconds left.
Sabrina Ionescu put the game away with a last-second 3-pointer against the Lynx on Wednesday
Having not led since the game was 5-4 in the first quarter, Liberty came back to life in the fourth quarter after trailing for most of the game.
With his team trailing by seven points late in the third quarter, Stewart led their efforts and closed the gap to 61-62 in the quarter before both sides traded blows for the lead.
Five straight points from Jonquel Jones would give New York a 74-73 lead in the final minutes. A rebound by Stewart at the other end was followed by a three-pointer by Ionescu to extend their lead with 55.5 seconds left.
Moments later, the Lynx tied the game at 77 with 16 seconds left.
MORE TO FOLLOW
Breanna Stewart had an explosion at the end of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday
Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier broke the record for most points in a WNBA playoff run.