Ionescu's logo places 3 Liberty at the top of the 1st title

MINNEAPOLIS — Sabrina Ionescu hit a tiebreaking 28-foot 3-pointer with 1 second left and Breanna Stewart scored 30 points to help the New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx 80-77 on Wednesday night, taking a 2-1 lead in the WNBA final.

The Liberty — who are down to 15 for the third-largest comeback in WNBA Finals history — are one win away from winning their first title. Game 4 will be in Minnesota on Friday night and a fifth game will be decided in New York on Sunday if necessary.

With the game tied at 77, Ionescu had the ball and broke the tie before pulling up a few steps behind the arc and hitting a 3-pointer.

Minnesota never got a real shot to tie at the buzzer.

The Liberty have previously reached the finals five times, including last season, and lost each.

Trailing 73-69 with 2:26 left in the fourth quarter, Liberty scored eight straight points, including the first five by Jonkel Jones. Ionescu, who had a relatively quiet game, then hit another 3-pointer after a Lynx miss to make it 77-73 with 55.5 left.

Bridget Carlton got the Lynx within 77-75 with a layup 21 seconds later. New York had a 3-pointer through the basket before Ionescu popped out on New York's next possession and Minnesota got the rebound. Nafisa Collier then got fouled with 16 seconds left and made the tying two free throws for a thrilling finish.

Collier finished with 22 points and Kayla McBride 19 for Minnesota.

With his Game 3 win, Ionescu passed Crystal Robinson (62) for the most 3-pointers made in the playoffs in Liberty history. He brought his 3-point total to 28 this postseason, tying his franchise-record 28 in last year's playoffs. It is the fifth most in a single postseason in WNBA playoff history.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.