It was Sabrina Ionescu’s fifth dribble — the one where she crossed over to her right hand, staring down her Minnesota Lynx defender, Kayla McBride. With time ticking down in a tie game, that’s when there was no doubt Ionescu would take the last shot for the New York Liberty.

She just had that look. Ionescu took three more dribbles, then used her fourth with a sudden burst of speed to jump to McBride's side.

The shot was her only no-doubter of the night, and when it finally swished through the net, the Liberty were ahead 80-77 with exactly one second left on the clock. One second of game time later, the Liberty had a lead in a WNBA Finals series for the first time in franchise history and were one win away from delivering New York its first WNBA championship.

Before Ionescu's game-winner, she was 2-7 from three on the night. But knowing the Lynx probably wouldn’t let Breanna Stewart touch the ball, head coach Sandy Brondello trusted her young guard to let it fly.

“In the timeout, Sandy was just like, ‘you're gonna shoot the shot,’” she said. “I feel like I was able to get a little separation in range and get a really good shot to go.”

It was, at minimum, the second-biggest shot in Liberty history. It was also one of the most memorable shots in the history of the WNBA Finals.

“I've practiced that shot 1,000 times in my head and I feel like that's just something that as athletes, you put yourself in that position to want to be able to make a shot,” she continued. “And obviously, we don't win this game without Stewie, I mean, what she was able to do just continue to chip away.”

Stewart singlehandedly brought the Liberty back into the game after they trailed most of the way, putting Ionescu in position to win it in the first place. Stewart scored 13 points in a row for New York, spanning the third and fourth quarters. The last point of her run tied the game at 69-69. Moments later, ESPN’s cameras caught her in the huddle telling her teammates, “We’re not [expletive] losing this game.”

“We were all just waiting for our moment, waiting for the script to flip a little bit,” Stewart explained. “They talked about the first five minutes, [they were] going to come out punching. They punched us in the face in the first quarter and we continued to wear them down. We knew that our pace was something that made them tired. And for me, I was motivated. I was mad.”

Stewart finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds. After the game, she joined Sports Center, where she echoed the same line she and her teammates have said time and again throughout the WNBA playoffs.

“We haven’t done anything,” she told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt.

It makes sense for the team to think that way. They’ve been on a mission to return to the Finals and finish the job. It's been on their minds since they watched the Las Vegas Aces celebrate on their home court a year ago.

For everyone else, it’s clearly false. In this series alone, the Liberty have responded to a historic meltdown in Game 1 to stave off another Lynx comeback and win Game 2. Then, on Wednesday in Game 3, they fell behind 15 early and methodically clawed their way back into it. They weathered a flurry of big shots from Minnesota, their own unforced errors, an uncharacteristic game from Jonquel Jones, and a record-setting Target Center full of 19,521 Lynx fans.

Ionescu’s game-winner was the exclamation point, but the entire sentence read like rambling, drunken masterpiece.

Related New York Liberty NewsArticle continues below
New York Liberty guards Sabrina Ionescu (20) and Natasha Cloud (9) celebrate from the bench in the fourth quarter against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center.
Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu signs opposing team’s sneakers after Oregon homecoming win
New York Liberty Sabrina Ionescu celebrates a 3-point shot against the Toyota Antelopes during the second half at Matthew Knight Arena May 12, 2025 in Eugene.
Why Sabrina Ionescu ‘always dreamed’ of playing one more game at Oregon
New York Liberty guards Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud celebrate from the bench in the fourth quarter against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center.
Liberty’s Natasha Cloud turns up with Sabrina Ionescu’s family before Oregon preseason showcase

Sabrina Ionescu gave the Liberty a great all-WNBA Second Team performance

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) celebrates her teams win after game three of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center.
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Hours before the Liberty and Lynx tipped off, the league announced the all-WNBA first and second teams.

The first team was logical, headlined by the last two WNBA MVPs in A’ja Wilson and Stewart, plus Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.

Ionescu ended up on the second team, and there won’t be much of an outcry about it.

“Sabrina, I thought she had a really good year, could have gone to the first team, but I think her first half of the year was wonderful,” Brondello said. “I suppose, [she] took a bit of a dip when she had to sit out a few games and then getting her rhythm back, that maybe took her out a little bit.”

The first question Ionescu faced after the game wasn’t about her game-winner, but her exclusion from the first team.

“That was just a great all-WNBA Second Team performance,” she said, cheekily. “That’s it.”

Ionescu’s final line: 13 points, six assists, five rebounds, one steal, one block, and one of the greatest shots in franchise history.

Now, she’s one more all-WNBA Second Team performance away from winning a title with the team that took her first overall in 2020. Game 4 will tip Friday night at 8 p.m. ET.

“They're gonna give everything they've got,” Stewart said. “And you know what? So are we.”