After a 94-81 loss in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals to the Washington Mystics on Sunday, Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller commented on how every team that's been ahead at the end of one quarter had gone on to win that game during the series.

Tuesday night in Connecticut, that held true when the Sun won a do-or-die Game 4 90-86. But the path that game took to reach that result was anything but smooth.

The game started off strong for the Sun, who finished the first quarter with a 32-17 lead and made the Mystics look out of sorts.

"Letting them have four offensive rebounds in the first quarter, they got to the free throw line, we had a couple turnovers, we had some empty possessions, I thought we did about everything we could do wrong in the first quarter," said Mystics Head Coach Mike Thibault.

The Sun carried their momentum through the rest of the half and finished with a 56-40 lead heading into intermission.

Compared to the game before, where Washington was in the driver's seat almost from the start, it looked like the teams had swapped bodies.

Mystics stars Kristi Toliver and Emma Meesseman, who led their team in scoring in Game 3, were both held scoreless through two quarters. The Sun were on a run, and it looked like nothing could stop them.

Then the third quarter happened.

The Mystics came roaring back and outscored the Sun 28 to 12 in the third quarter to tie the game at 68 all heading into the fourth.

But the Sun stayed, according to guard Courtney Williams, who finished the night with 16 points.

"[Sun guard Jasmine Thomas] came over to us and she said, 'It's 0-0. It's time to get back to it,'" Williams told the press after the game.

Take your pick of metaphors for what the fourth quarter was: A battle. A slugfest. A heart attack on hardwood. With big, clutch shots, tough rebounds and a season on the line, it may go down as one of the best quarters of basketball in WNBA history.

With the game tied at 81-all with 3:41 left in the game, Jasmine Thomas, who finished with 14 points, hit a clutch three to give Connecticut the lead. Not to be outdone, Washington marched right back down and hit a three of their own from Meesseman on the very next possession to tie it right back up.

In one of the biggest moments of the season for Connecticut, Sun forward Shekinna Stricklen, who finished with 15 points, hit her third three of the night to rip the lead back into her team's hands. And although Washington scored once more after that, Connecticut held the line on defense and got free throws from Alyssa Thomas and Jasmine Thomas to keep the lead in its hands when the final buzzer sounded.

The series now heads back to Washington for a final Game 5 in what has turned into an instant classic of a series. After the game, Sun head coach Curt Miller admitted that while it's exhausting to be in a series like this, the team is having "the time of our life."

"You dream as a little kid being in a deciding, you know, final game, a Game 7, a Game 5 of a series to win a world championship," he said. "If you grew up a basketball fan, these are the moments that you dreamed of."

It's a sentiment that Sun forward-center Jonquel Jones, who finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, echoed.

"We understand that we have a lot of work to do, but at the end of the day it's really good to just sit in the moment and realize where you are," she said. "It's awesome."

Although she wanted to end the series in Game 4 and take a championship trophy back to the nation's capital, Mystics forward and league MVP Elena Delle Donne, who finished with 11 points, admitted a Game 5 in the WNBA Finals is a good thing for the league.

"I think this has been quite the series, and people better be tuning in, 'cause this is some great basketball and some really good teams," she said.

Throughout the playoffs, the Sun have relished the role of being the underdog. And with one game to go with everything on the line on Thursday, it's a mentality they've dug into.

Williams said that besides the team and the players' families, no one thought the Sun would be in a position to play for a championship.

"We keep that chip on our shoulder, and we know what we could do, and now it's time to go get one in DC," she said.