Heartbreaking. Controversial.

Pick one and you’d be right.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” Sandy Brondello said. “It’s just unfortunate we didn’t get another five minutes [overtime] to see who would win.”

Thanks to a Maya Moore free-throw with less than two seconds left on the clock after a “tough” foul called on Noelle Quinn at the other end, the Minnesota Lynx are heading to the 2015 WNBA Finals with a 72-71 victory.

“It’s frustrating,” Brittney Griner said after the game. “For it to end the way it did…it’s tough. We have a great group of people here. It’s just…tough.”

Maya Moore stole a pass with 2 seconds left with the game tied at 71. Noelle Quinn was called for a foul and Phoenix was in the penalty. Moore hit the first free throw and missed the second leaving no time on the clock.

“It’s disappointing,” DeWanna Bonner said. “But we can’t really define our season off of that. We had one great season for my teammates. We’ve been through so much, nobody expected us to be here.”

By all accounts, Phoenix outplayed Minnesota in many aspects of the game. In fact, this game marked the first loss this postseason where the Mercury lost while outshooting their opponent; Phoenix shot 47.5-percent from the field while the Lynx shot 42.4-percent.

However, Maya Moore was absolutely on fire and finished with a remarkable 40 points.

“Well, obviously we’re all very disappointed,” Monique Currie said. “Our goal at the beginning of the year was to win a championship and I think we all had a team that could very well win one. We’re all disappointed but at the same time I think a lot of people didn’t expect us to be where we were this season and to play as well as we did throughout the season.

“I’m proud about the overall season, but very disappointed about how things ended today.”

Candice Dupree led the Mercury with 16 points – a 2015 postseason high. Monique Currie totaled team-highs in rebounds (7) and assists (7). Currie’s seven assists were the most by a Mercury player this postseason topping the previous high of six by Leilani Mitchell.

Understandably, the lockerroom was an emotional one after the game.

“It’s just tough for it to end like this,” Sandy Brondello said. “But I’m so, so proud of this team. Everyone kind of wrote us off in the beginning of the season. For us to band together as a group; it’s special. For it to end like that…it was a definitely an emotional group in there [the lockerroom]. We had a great group of people; everyone enjoyed being with each other and working as a team. It was a pleasure to coach them.

“I’m very proud of what we accomplished.”