Sabrina Ionescu hit an all-important three-pointer at the top of the arc to secure an 80-77 win for the New York Liberty in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
Target Center hosted a franchise-high 19,521 fans as the best-of-five series moved to Minnesota. They were not disappointed as the Lynx and Liberty went neck and neck in a tightly contested game.
Minutes after Breanna Stewart yelled ‘Were not f****** losing this game,’ in the middle of a second-half explosion against the Lynx, Ionescu gave the exclamation mark in Minnesota. The comeback win gave New York a 2-1 series lead.
With a 77-77 deadlock and 10.9 seconds on the clock, the Liberty inbounded the ball from the sideline.
After a quick give-and-go with rookie Leonie Fiebich, Ionescu found herself in isolation near the logo. As the clock expired, Ionescu side-stepped away from Kayla McBride, pulled the trigger and hit nothing but net with 1.1 seconds left.
Sabrina Ionescu called game with a last-second three-pointer against the Lynx on Wednesday
Having not led since the game was 5-4 in the opening frame, the Liberty came back to life in the fourth quarter after trailing for most of the contest.
With her team down seven at the end of the third stanza, Stewart led their efforts and closed the gap 61-62 in the fourth before both sides traded haymakers for the lead.
Five straight points from Jonquel Jones would give New York a 74-73 lead in the dying minutes. A rebound from Stewart on the other end was followed by a three-point dagger from Ionescu to extend their lead with 55.5 seconds to spare.
Moments later the Lynx tied the game at 77 with 16 seconds remaining.
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