Veteran center Taj McWilliams-Franklin calls herself the team mom. The well-traveled free agent signed with the Lynx in the offseason and joined her seventh WNBA team promising to provide defense and leadership.
But she can still score, too.
McWilliams-Franklin made an 18-foot jumper from the top of the key with 1.3 seconds remaining Thursday to give the Lynx a heart-pumping 62-60 victory over San Antonio at Target Center.
The victory, before an announced crowd of 8,123, was the eighth in a row for the Lynx (15-4) and gave them a four-game lead in the Western Conference over the Silver Bullets, Phoenix and Seattle, all tied for second place at 11-8.
McWilliams-Franklin, the real mother of three daughters, is the oldest player in the league at 40 and can laugh at herself.
"I am so slow I was wide open," she said, describing her winning basket. "Everybody else went to Lindsay [Whalen]. Five people flooded the paint."
Whalen, driving to the basket, tried to pass the ball outside, but it hit the hand of Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson and ...
"Came straight to me and I just shot it," McWilliams-Franklin said. "Then I thought while I was shooting there was maybe too much time on the clock. I should have waited. But I was happy it went in."
So were her teammates.
"It's a blessing to still play and contribute," said McWilliams-Franklin, who scored a team-high 18 points and had seven rebounds. It was her sixth consecutive game in double figures. She averages 8.6 points a game. "I am just happy to be here and part of what [coach] Cheryl Reeve is doing with the Minnesota Lynx."
This was only the fifth victory at the buzzer in the 13-year history of the Lynx, but the second this week. Last Sunday in Texas, the Lynx edged the Silver Stars 70-69 on Whalen's baseline jumper with 1.5 seconds to play.
"We are really lucky. Really. Honestly," McWilliams-Franklin said. "The shot that Lindsay hit over [6-4 center] Jayne Appel, you can't draw things up like that.
"The shot today, hitting off some hands. You can't say this is what we meant to do. It is just basically lucky. And San Antonio played really well."
The Lynx shot only 27.5 percent from the field, their lowest percentage in a victory. The Silver Bullets also had trouble scoring, though. San Antonio held the Lynx to seven points in the second quarter but scored only eight, making it the lowest-scoring quarter in a Lynx game.
After the Lynx took their last-second lead, San Antonio's Jia Perkins missed on a hasty three-point attempt.
Then the dancing -- a Lynx home tradition after victories -- started at midcourt. Usually it's Candice Wiggins, who made five three-pointers for 15 points, Charde Houston and Maya Moore.
"Taj doesn't dance," said McWilliams-Franklin, who played 28 1/2 minutes. "That's one thing I can't do. I can't even feel my legs right now. I am not even walking tomorrow."
