After the Phoenix Mercury's win in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals last night, Diana Taurasi spoke to the media about the importance of taking back the momentum of the game from the Minnesota Lynx at the end of the third quarter.
"There's always plays in games that turn the tide," Taurasi said, according to a Mercury release. "For the most part, going into the last couple minutes of the third, they got the momentum... A couple plays turns that. Obviously, BG made plays the whole night. Penny made some huge plays. DB was all over the place on the boards. It's little things like that get you over the hump."
Of course, she left out the biggest play of all: her half-court shot to end the quarter and extend the Mercury's lead to five before what was seemingly shaping up to be a tight fourth quarter.
Mercury coach Sandy Brondello noted how the shot not only got the crowd riled up going into the final period, but also gave her team a confidence boost.
"Well, you see the crowd got into it, and that certainly helps in that situation," Brondello said, according to the release. "But, you know, when anyone makes a big shot like that, you just think, ‘Ok, it's our night.' I just thought, the look in their eyes, we just knew that it was like, ‘Ok, they're good.'"
For more on the game and the entire Western Conference Finals series, check out our Mercury vs. Lynx storystream.