NEW YORK, NY–Her head shaking side-to-side, and her raised finger doing the same, Diana Taurasi screamed to the New York crowd. “No! No!” she was saying. No, the Phoenix Mercury will not be going home. Not now, not tonight in the Garden.

With just 1:29 left in the fourth quarter, and the Mercury clinging to a four-point lead, Taurasi–Who else?–stepped up and drilled a three-pointer to push Phoenix’s lead to 93-86, sealing the win, and sending them to the semifinal round.

“I’ve said it before, but it’s just not being afraid of the moment,” Taurasi told WNBA.com postgame. She’s never been afraid of the moment at any previous point in her career, and she certainly wasn’t afraid of the moment Saturday night. Entering the game with a 12-3 record in elimination games in the WNBA playoffs, Taurasi was determined to add another win to that impressive record.

Which is just what she did, dropping 30 points on 9-17 shooting to lead the Mercury to a 101-94 victory over the Liberty. She’s now 13-3 when facing the prospect of going home in the WNBA Playoffs, and if you include the NCAA Tournament and the Olympics, she’s now a ridiculous 44-4 in elimination games dating back to 2004.

And if the record wasn’t enough, just check out Taurasi’s individual statistics in those elimination games. She’s now played in 16 of them in the WNBA Playoffs, and you’ll notice a distinct difference in those games as compared to her career statistics.

How does she do it? How does she come up with clutch performances time and time and time again? Well when you hear her explain it, it all seems so simple. “It’s just a mindset of not wanting to go home, but wanting to play another game,” she told WNBA.com after the win.

“They’re just great games to play in,” she continued. “You know you’re gonna get the best shot from other team, and that brings the best out in you.”

The pressure absolutely brought out the best from Taurasi tonight. While her game-high 30 points–the third time she’s scored 30 or more in an elimination game–were remarkable, the way she turned it on in the fourth quarter was more impressive.

The Mercury coasted into halftime with an 11-point lead. But by the start of the fourth quarter, it was down to one. That’s when Taurasi took over. She poured in 17 points in the fourth quarter alone, including nine over the final 90 seconds to ensure the Mercury’s victory.

It’s no wonder then, why Phoenix head coach Sandy Brondello opened her postgame statement by saying, “Diana Taurasi, she’s the G.O.A.T. It’s always good to have her on your team.”

“She’s the best player in the world,” Brondello continued. “She’s a player that, her determination to win in those big moments, it exceeds anyone I’ve ever seen.”

That determination will be put to the test again, as the Mercury now have to face their long-time nemesis, the Minnesota Lynx, in the semifinal round. This will be the fourth straight year in which they’ve met in the postseason, and Taurasi and company know they’ll be in for a tough battle against the number one seed.

The competitor in Taurasi is relishing in the challenge, however. “The beauty of it is you have to play the best teams,” she noted postgame. “You always have to beat the best team to win a championship. We have the best team coming up, the best team in the league. They’ve proven it last year, this year, they’re playing on all cylinders.”

“It’s gonna be a great test for us,” Taurasi concluded.

That it will be, as the Lynx ended the regular season with the best record (28-6), the best offensive rating (107.2), and the best defensive rating (96.4). But as we’ve seen for over a decade, it’s one she’s certainly capable of passing.