Welcome back to Last night in the WNBA Playoffs, a running post you’ll see throughout the next month or so as we march towards the crowning of a new WNBA champion.
New York Liberty 79 – Washington Mystics 74 (Liberty win 2-1)
GAMETIME! #MysticsLiberty pic.twitter.com/OGEqQPzuWW
— Monumental Sports Network (@MonSportsNet) September 22, 2015
Game 3 was much more like Game 1 than Game 2, as the Liberty and Mystics battled all the way down to the final seconds to determine who would advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Ivory Latta was on fire early, leading the Mystics to a huge lead in the first quarter.
HEAT CHECK! @ivorylatta12 knocks down her third trifecta of the quarter on ESPN2! #WNBAPlayoffshttps://t.co/2IBomIeTHj
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 22, 2015
But then the Liberty took over in the second quarter, outscoring the Mystics 30-12.
Watching Q1 ---> watching Q2 #MysticsLiberty #Relentless pic.twitter.com/COZFI2324h
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) September 22, 2015
From there it was a very tightly contested affair. Candice Wiggins was huge off the bench for the Liberty, going 4-4 from deep.
.@CandiceWiggins goes back-to-back from deep in the 3rd!https://t.co/uAQNmbl5GG
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 23, 2015
Hey, look who was at the game. It’s Fever coach Stephanie White with Reggie Miller’s best friend!
Hey @ReggieMillerTNT, I met an old friend of yours😉 https://t.co/n17e9IzAFX
— stephanie white (@StephanieWhite) September 23, 2015
Tina Charles was awesome, of course, for the Liberty, putting up 22 and 12.
Sugar Rodgers was big off the bench as well, dropping a 20 ball.
And likely Rookie of the Year Kiah Stokes got the game-clinching block.
Minnesota Lynx 91 – Los Angeles Sparks 80 (Lynx win 2-1)
Lynx vs. Sparks. Maya vs. Candace. Winner gets a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Starters are in. Lights are on. It's here. #RoarWithUs pic.twitter.com/CHS8leJZRH
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) September 23, 2015
At first this game wasn’t really living up to the hype, as the Lynx dominated early on, leading by eight after the first quarter, and 13 after the first half.
The Sparks were playing ugly basketball, including a few minute stretch early in the second quarter where they had four turnovers in five possessions. Maya Moore was cookin’ early on.
.@minnesotalynx swarm the rock, get it ahead to @MooreMaya to extend the lead to 10 on ESPN2!https://t.co/XuG6ljvnQO
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 23, 2015
Slowly but surely the Sparks got themselves back into the game, though. Candace Parker turned it up in the third quarter, hitting crazy threes…
…and continued it early in the fourth getting a monster block before screaming right in Kevin Garnett’s face. (He was at the game.)
In fact, the Sparks cut it to one point, but then the Maya System engaged.
Filthy.
Somehow the Sparks fought back again though, and had the ball down just five with 42 seconds to go. That’s when Maya Moore made the biggest play of the night, forcing a five second call to seal the win.
OH. IT’S. LIT.