A Sabrina Ionescu three-pointer from 28-feet out put the New York Liberty one game away from winning their first WNBA Title on Wednesday night in front of 19,521 people at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.
Ionescu's go-ahead bucket with just one second remaining gave the Liberty an 80-77 win and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series against the Minnesota Lynx.
“In the timeout, (coach) Sandy (Brondello) was like, ‘You’re going to shoot the shot,'" Ionescu said.
It was Breanna Stewart who did the heavy lifting during most of Game 3 for New York, scoring 30 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Lynx star Napheesa Collier scored 22, Kayla McBride finished with 19.
"I feel like they were making plays at the end of shot clocks," Collier said. "We were getting really good looks, we just weren't executing on the offensive end. It's just hard when you get that and obviously they're a great offensive team. It puts a lot of pressure on our defense. I think we just need to make more shots."
Alanna Smith was hampered by a back injury for the Lynx, playing just 20 minutes and tallying five fouls.
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve did not have an update on Smith's injury immediately after the game.
"She did what she could do," Reeve said. "Our starting five is a really good starting five. Not having Lan with foul trouble and not feeling like she could go put us in a bit of a bind. We tried different things, just a bit of a small line-up trying to spread the floor and get some shots, but that didn't produce either. We need our starters just like they need their starters."
Minnesota did not get a great attempt at tying the game after Ionescu's go-ahead three.
“Great player made a good shot,” Minnesota guard Kayla McBride said. “I guarded her for 40 minutes.”
Game 4 is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Target Center. The Lynx announced after Wednesday's game that new tickets had been released for Game 4, but that less than 2,000 tickets remained available.