Sabrina Ionescu's buzzer-beater joins historic group of WNBA Finals game-winners

The Association's X account noted on Thursday that the former No. 1 overall pick's connection from deep is the second-longest go-ahead field goal in the last 10 seconds of a WNBA Finals contest. The only WNBA Finals game-winner from a longer distance came in Game 2 of the 1999 event when Hall of Fame guard Teresa Weatherspoon drilled a miraculous heave from past midcourt for New York in a victory over the Houston Comets.

Ironically, each of the five longest shots in the final 10 seconds of a finals game involve the Liberty and/or Lynx.

Just over nine years ago, Minnesota was on the winning end of a dramatic finish. One-time MVP forward Maya Moore provided a magical moment for the Lynx in Game 3 of the 2015 WNBA Finals on Oct. 9 when she made a buzzer-beater from the top of the key to give her team an 80-77 victory vs. the Indiana Fever. Minnesota took a 2-1 series lead and went on to capture the title in five games.

The most unlikely hero in the group is former guard Nikki Teasley, who had her moment in Game 2 of the 2002 WNBA Finals against the Liberty.

Then a rookie, Teasley sunk the game-winning, title-clinching three-pointer to lift the Los Angeles Sparks to a 69-66 win. The North Carolina product was a one-time All-Star in her career, and though she scored 11 points in the victory, the game-winner was her only three-pointer made on five attempts.

Exactly one year after Moore gave Minnesota reason to celebrate in 2015, Sparks star and two-time Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard propelled her team past the Lynx.

In Game 1 of the 2016 event, Beard made her game-winner from the corner to give Los Angeles a 78-76 win. The Sparks would end up winning the championship in five games.