The Minnesota Lynxdefeated the New York Liberty 82-80 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals to force a winner-takes-all decider on Sunday.
The packed crowd at the Target Center in Minneapolis almost had their hearts broken in a consecutive Finals game.
With the Lynx up two and two seconds remaining in regulation, Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who struggled throughout the game, had the ball in her hands to shoot a desperation three.
Afterall, Ionescu had won the game on Wednesday, hitting a long, tiebreaking three at the end of the game.
Asked after the win what she said to herself when she watched Ionescu launch the potential game-winner, Minnesota’s Kayla McBride replied, “Please don’t go in.”
The Game 3 hero got the inbounds pass from Courtney Vandersloot but overshot the basket, much to the relief of the Lynx and the crowd.
Minnesota’s point guard Courtney Williams, who led the team’s celebratory, post-victory dance, was a livewire throughout the game, scoring 15 points and dishing seven assists.
McBride led the Lynx with 19 points.
But it was forward Bridget Carleton who came up huge at the end of Game 4.
With the score tied at 80, the Canadian calmly hit two free throws to break the tie with under five seconds remaining in regulation.
Coming into Game 4 down 2-1 in the best-of-five series, the Lynx had a history of not caving. The team was 4-2 when facing elimination in the Finals – and are now 5-2.
While the Liberty’s two most well-known stars, Breanna Stewart and Ionescu, struggled to make their mark in the game, Jonquel Jones dominated.
The Bahamian and former league MVP led all scorers with 21 points.
After the win, McBride described the moxie the Lynx own.
“I feel like we’re very strong minded – mentally, physically, we have a lot of belief within our group. We problem solve with each other.
“It’s just a belief internally. I don’t know how else to explain it. When things get hard, we come together even more,” she said.
“Everybody’s tired. We’re playing every other day now, so we’re leaning on each other and we gain energy from each other.”
Game 5 of the best-of-five series will be played Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Minnesota can win a record-breaking fifth WNBA championship, while the Liberty seek the franchise’s first title in franchise history.