Breanna Stewart's fiery second half was the spark Liberty desperately needed

MINNEAPOLIS – Breanna Stewart has said time and time again that she needs to make amends for her Finals flop from last year – in which she shot 3-for-17 and failed to make the final shot in the deciding Game 4 against the Aces.

Before Game 3 against the Lynx, she realized there was more to her offensive game after contributing 18 and then 21 points in the first two games of the WNBA Finals.

It came in the form of a 30-point, 11-rebound night at Target Center on Wednesday in which 22 of those points came in the second half, sparking and moving closer to the Liberty's 80-77 victory over the Lynx just one win away from their first WNBA title.

“I think we were all just waiting for our moment, for the script to change a little bit,” Stewart said afterwards. “(The Lynx) talked about the first five minutes ending with hits. They hit us in the face in the first quarter and we continued to wear them down. … As far as I'm concerned, I was kind of motivated, I was angry and I liked my matchups that I had and I really attacked them to make sure we got this back to where we needed to be a ball game.”

The third quarter turnaround was driven by Stewart, who scored 14 of the Liberty's 26 points in the game.

She continually went to the rim for whistles and finally made a three-point play after picking up a foul from Lynx guard Courtney Williams, giving her a 62-61 deficit heading into the final quarter.

Stewart, who was announced All-WNBA First Team for the sixth time Wednesday afternoon, bested her former UConn College teammate Napheesa Collier on the team, collecting 11 rebounds and four blocks while Collier had nine and one.

One of Stewart's blocks came against Collier, who was named the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.

The two-time MVP had just eight points in the first half after the Liberty trailed until the fourth quarter – for the first time in the Finals series.

They fell behind by as many as 15 points, largely due to 11 early turnovers that the Lynx turned into 14 points in the first half.

“We're not winning this game without Stewie,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 13 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer from 28 feet in the final seconds. “I mean, what she was able to do was just keep breaking it down. …Yeah, I can’t say anything about that. My shot is good, but that doesn’t contradict what she can do for us tonight and how she was able to just get us back in the game.”