By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer
MINNEAPOLIS — Bridget Carleton made two free throws with two seconds left, and the Minnesota Lynx forced a decisive Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, beating the New York Liberty, 82-80, on Friday night.
The teams will meet Sunday night in New York in the first Game 5 in the Finals since 2019, when Washington topped Connecticut.
“Last 40 minutes of the season could be anywhere, we’re going to be out there going to war and I’m pumped,” said Kayla McBride, who led the Lynx with 19 points.
Courtney Williams added 15 points for Minnesota, which forced Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu into poor shooting nights. Ionescu’s heave at the buzzer didn’t hit the rim.
“I think we’re excited,” Lynx star Napheesa Collier said. “It’s a Game 5 of the Finals. We have to go out and execute.”
Unlike the first three games of the series, when one of the teams built a double-digit lead, this one was tight throughout. There were 14 lead changes and 13 ties, and neither team led by more than six.
With the score tied at 80-all with 18 seconds left, Williams dribbled to run the clock down and missed a jumper with a few seconds left. Carleton got the rebound in the lane and was fouled by Ionescu.
She calmly made both free throws, and Ionescu was unable to duplicate her heroics in Game 3, when she made a 28-footer with 1 second left to give the Liberty a 2-1 series lead.
“It was a little screen to get (Jonquel Jones) to the block, but Sabrina had to come out,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said of the final possession. “Two seconds, try to establish the big girl down low. They defended it well.”
Jones had 21 points and Leonie Fiebich scored 19 for New York. Stewart, who scored 30 points in Game 3, had 11 points on 5-of-20 shooting, and Ionescu was 5 for 16 from the floor and scored 10.
Minnesota stands one victory away from a record fifth WNBA title, which would break a tie with the Houston Comets and Seattle Storm. The Liberty are looking for their first title and have lost in the Finals five times. The team was one of the original eight franchises when the league began in 1997 and is the only one left of that group not to have won it all.
New York lost to Las Vegas in last season’s Finals. Friday night marked the one-year anniversary of the Game 4 clincher last season for the Aces.
The Lynx reached the Finals for the first time since 2017, when they won the last of four championships in seven years.
Minnesota built a 77-72 lead with 3:14 left before New York scored eight of the next 11 points, including a three-point play by Jones with 1:10 left that tied it at 80.
Both teams had chances before Carleton’s free throws. McBride missed a layup with 56 seconds left, but the Lynx forced a shot-clock violation on the other end when Stewart’s shot in the lane missed with 18 seconds left.
“We wanted to get it done tonight, but like Sandy said, our fans are like no other. To go into our environment on Sunday and know they have our backs, when there are tough situations fighting adversity we have the crowd behind us,” Stewart said. “Can’t wait for Sunday.”
