Once again, Sabrina Ionescu was involved in the decisive play at the end of a WNBA Finals game.
But this time, the Liberty star found herself on the wrong side.
Ionescu’s foul on the Minnesota Lynx’s Bridget Carleton with 2.0 seconds left in regulation led to the winning free throws in the Liberty’s 82-80 loss in Game 4 in Minneapolis on Friday night, setting up a winner-take-all Game 5 at Barclays Center on Sunday.
Ionescu committed the foul as she boxed out on Carleton after Lynx guard Courtney Williams missed a would-be game-winning jumper with the score tied 80-80.
Carleton made both free throws, and Ionescu missed her desperation 3-point heave on the other end as time expired.
The chaotic finish capped a roller-coaster game in which Ionescu scored only 10 points on 5-of-16 shooting and missed all five of her 3-point attempts.
It was a stark contrast from Game 3, when Ionescu drained a 28-foot game-winner to put the Liberty up 2-1 in the Finals and on the precipice of the long-awaited first championship in franchise history.
Similarly ineffective on Friday was fellow Liberty star Breanna Stewart, who scored 11 points on 5-of-20 shooting. Stewart missed her first eight shot attempts after entering Game 4 averaging 23.0 points per game in the Finals.
Despite the stars’ shortcomings, the Liberty had a chance to win late after Jonquel Jones’ three-point play tied the game, 80-80, with 1:10 to go in regulation.
That remained the score on the Liberty’s next possession, but Jones and Ionescu both missed shots, setting up Carleton’s clutch free throws.
Jones finished with a game-high 21 points, but she made only one field goal in the fourth quarter after starting the game 6 for 6 from the field, including 4 for 4 from 3-point range.
Leonie Fiebich scored 19 for the Liberty in the losing effort.
All five of the Lynx’s starters, meanwhile, scored in double figures, with Kayla McBride leading the balanced attack with 19 points.
And now one game will decide whether the Liberty finally become WNBA champions or lose in the Finals for a sixth time.
The Liberty cruised to a WNBA-best 32-8 record in the regular season, then rolled through the first two rounds of the playoffs, sweeping the Atlanta Dream in the first round before beating the Aces in four games in the semifinals.
But they still have another dragon to slay.
The Lynx proved to be the Liberty’s toughest matchup this year, defeating them three times in four tries coming into the Finals, including in the Commissioner’s Cup in June.
And now, it all comes down to Sunday.
