MINNEAPOLIS — Bridget Carleton sank a pair of free throws with 2.0 seconds remaining and the Minnesota Lynx held on for an 82-80 win over the New York Liberty in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals.
Kayla McBride scored 19 points to lead the Lynx, who staved off elimination and evened the best-of-five series at two wins apiece.
Napheesa Collier flirted with a double-double, collecting 14 points and nine rebounds.
The series will shift to New York for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Monday.
Jonquel Jones scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds for New York, which remains one win away from its first-ever championship. Leonie Fiebich scored 19 points, and Breanna Stewart finished with 11 points and 11 boards.
The score was even at 80 after Jones converted a three-point play with 1:10 remaining.
Lynx guard Courtney Williams missed a jump shot in the final seconds, but Carleton grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul. She then put the Lynx on top by two from the free-throw line.
Minnesota held on to a 64-63 lead at the end of the third quarter, Reuters reported.
New York went on an 11-0 run to transform a 55-50 deficit into a 61-55 edge with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter. Stewart finished the run with a long jump shot from just inside the 3-point line.
Alanna Smith scored five of the next six points as the Lynx battled back to even the score at 61-all with 2:34 to go. Carleton finished the quarter with a pair of free throws to give the Lynx a one-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Minnesota led 46-45 at the end of the first half.
Williams and McBride had back-to-back three-point plays to account for a 6-0 run for Minnesota late in the first half. McBride brought the crowd to its feet when she drove to the rim for a layup and added a free throw with 56.6 seconds left.
“It’s the fourth time we are playing them,” McBride said according to AP.
“We know each other so well and know each other’s tendencies. It’s just making everything hard. I think that’s the name of the game on both sides now.”
Despite the loss and poor shooting, the Liberty was confident heading home, where they’ve been tough to beat.
“Short-term memory. Just the fact that all that happened tonight is the series is even, and there´s a Game 5, winner takes all,” Stewart said.
“We are going back to New York, and we´re going to get it done. You know, getting it done there.”
“Try to make it as hard as possible for them to get the shots they want,” said Collier, who guarded Stewart for most of the game.
“They are good players. They are going to get shots off. But they can´t get easy ones. So that´s my goal, to make it as hard as I can.
Stewart, who finished with 11 points, said she was sped up by Collier, who was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“I think that I was going a little bit too fast. I just needed to slow down,” said Stewart, who had 30 points in New York’s Game 3 victory.
“They are sending multiple people when I´m slipping on a screen, stuff like that. A little bit better awareness on my part.
