LOS ANGELES - On a team with four starters scoring in double figures, an unlikely protagonist put the Lynx into the WNBA Finals for the second consecutive year.
Monica Wright's three-pointer with 1 minute, 14 seconds to play sent the Lynx to an 80-79 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday in front of an announced 10,791 at Staples Center.
After sweeping the best-of-three Western Conference finals with the Sparks, the Lynx will face either the Connecticut Sun or the Indiana Fever for the WNBA championship.
Enhancing the victory's significance is the fact that the Lynx had to rally from a 13-point deficit in the second half after building a 12-point advantage early in the second quarter.
"You look at my team, and you look at L.A. There's not much separation," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "But this team epitomizes the resiliency, the intelligence and the patience that this group has."
The Lynx needed those traits to overcome a two-stage rally that the Sparks began after trailing 29-17 with 46 seconds gone in the second quarter.
Candace Parker dominated the rest of that period. Parker amassed 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists to narrow the Sparks' deficit to 40-39 at halftime.
Then the hosts used a 17-0 blitz to move ahead, 62-50, with 1:27 left in the third quarter. The Sparks forced five turnovers during the spree and turned them into nine points; eight Lynx turnovers resulted in 15 points during the period.