Ionescu's 3-pointer with one second left gives Liberty an 80-77 victory over the Lynx and a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu watched as Breanna Stewart carried the New York Liberty the entire game until it was time to win.

Then the ball was hers.

“In the timeout, (coach) Sandy (Brondello) said, 'You're going to take the shot,'” Ionescu said.

The Star Guardian managed to a 3-pointer from 28 feet with one second left That gave the Liberty an 80-77 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday night and moved them one win away from their elusive first WNBA title.

New York leads the Finals 2-1 – its first time in the championship round – and can win the series Friday night in Minnesota.

“We know we're just one game away from winning the championship and I think they're going to give us their best,” said Stewart, who won two titles with Seattle. “They’ll give it everything they’ve got, and guess what, so will we. The turnaround is happening quickly, but we will continue to be ready.

Ionescu said she had to watch the replay of her shot after the game to see exactly what happened.

“I didn’t even really remember it. I had to watch the video real quick to see how far I had come,” she said. “I feel like I was able to get a little bit of distance and hit a really good shot.”

With the game tied 77-77, Ionescu had the ball and dribbled around before taking a few steps behind the arc and scoring from 28 feet to break the tie.

“It's something very special. There was never any doubt. Obviously Stewie got us back in there, got us in there, but I thought it's the right time, this is Sabrina,” Brondello said. “She just made a big splash. She’s a great shooter and she just needed some distance.”

Stewart scored 22 of the team's 45 points in the second half and finished the game with 30 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

“We won’t win this game without Stewie,” Ionescu said. “There's nothing I can say. The shot is nice, but what she was able to do for us tonight got us back in the game.”

Minnesota had no real chance to get to the buzzer.

“A great player made a good shot,” Minnesota guard Kayla McBride said. “I guarded her for 40 minutes.”

The Liberty erased a 15-point deficit to fall one win short of their first title.

“There's a lot of things we didn't do right tonight and we kind of have a quick memory,” Stewart said. “I think we’re happy we got this win, but the job isn’t done yet.”

The Liberty have been to the finals five times, including last season, and lost each time.

Trailing 73-69 with 2:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Liberty scored eight straight points, including the first five from Jonquel Jones. Ionescu, who had a relatively quiet game, hit another three-pointer after a Lynx miss to increase the lead to 77-73 with 55.5 minutes left.

Bridget Carleton got the Lynx within 77-75 with a layup 21 seconds later. On New York's next possession, Ionescu had a 3-point shot in the middle of the basket before diving out and Minnesota got the rebound.

Napheesa Collier was then fouled with 16 seconds left and shot both free throws to equalize and set up the exciting conclusion.

Collier finished with 22 points and McBride had 19 for Minnesota.

“Our defense gave us a chance to win the game and our offense will help our defense,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “If you told me that if we had the number of stops that we made and that we played it out and that we didn't score 80 points, that would be a surprise to me.”

The Lynx flipped the script from the first two games and built a double-digit lead in the first half. Minnesota, which led for just over three minutes in the first two contests, was ahead 60-50 with 2:28 left in the third quarter before the Liberty closed the score to 62-61 at the end of the quarter. Stewart scored the final five points, including a three-point play with 19 seconds left.

She then scored New York's first eight points of the fourth quarter and tied the game with another three-point play at 6:18.

Twelve seconds later, Carleton tied the game with two free throws. Neither team would score again until Courtney Williams hit a baseline pullup with 2:26 left, giving the Lynx a four-point lead.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball