Bridget Carleton's two free throws with 2.0 seconds left forced a winner-take-all Game 5 of the WNBA Finals as the Minnesota Lynx came through with an 82-80 victory over the New York Liberty on Friday. (More Sports News)
WNBA Finals: Minnesota Lynx Beat New York Liberty In Close Encounter
New York missed three shots on its next trip down the court, however, before giving the Lynx the ball back on a shot-clock violation with 18.3 seconds remaining
Carleton came down with the rebound of team-mate Courtney Williams' missed shot in the waning seconds and was fouled by New York's Sabrina Ionescu with the score tied at 80-80. The veteran forward calmly made both free throws before Ionescu misfired on a long 3-point try right before the final buzzer.
Kayla McBride had 19 points and Williams added 15 with seven assists as the second-seeded Lynx tied the best-of-five series at 2-2 and sent it back to New York for Sunday's deciding Game 5.
Minnesota also denied the top-seeded Liberty an elusive first WNBA championship by forcing New York's two biggest stars, Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, into off-shooting nights.
Stewart was just 5 of 21 from the floor while finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Ionescu was held to 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting. The All-Star duo went a combined 0 of 9 from 3-point range.
Jonquel Jones led New York, which is 0-5 all-time in WNBA FInals, with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds.
In a tightly contested game in which neither team led by more than six points, the Lynx took an 80-75 advantage on McBride's 3-pointer with 2:35 to play.
The Liberty fought back, however, as Ionescu converted a layup on the ensuing possession and Jones was later fouled after scoring off a feed from Stewart with 1:10 remaining. She completed the three-point play to knot the score at 80-80.
New York missed three shots on its next trip down the court, however, before giving the Lynx the ball back on a shot-clock violation with 18.3 seconds remaining.
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