Connecticut Sun Hold off Chicago, Tie Playoff Series
October 1, 2021 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release
The Connecticut Sun had five players score in double figures to tie the semifinals series 1-1 with a 79-68 victory over the Chicago Sky.
Connecticut held their opponents to 70 points or less for the 19th time this season and the first time in the 2021 playoffs.
Chicago started the first quarter on a 11-0 run. Connecticut's first basket didn't come until 6:14 left in the quarter which sparked a scoring run for them. The Sun went on to outscore the Sky a 21-12 run to close out the frame.
Connecticut gained their first lead of the game, 31-30, with 6:37 left to go in the second quarter and maintained the lead going to the half up, 45-39. The Sun outscored Chicago 24-16, eight of DeWanna Bonner's 15 total points came in this frame.
The first half of action saw four ties and three lead changes.
Chicago started the third quarter on a 9-2 run and outscored the Sun 20-13 to take the lead 59-58 going into the fourth quarter.
Connecticut took the eight point lead, their largest at the time, 67- 59 with 5:33 left to go in the game. The Sun would go on to outscore the Sky 21-9 in the fourth. Alyssa Thomas had 10 of her total 15 points here.
A. Thomas scored her 300th career playoff point, and collected her ninth playoff career double-double. She came off the bench bringing down 11 rebounds and scoring 15 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. A. Thomas is the 1st player to have 15 points/10 rebounds /5 assists /2 steals off the bench in the WNBA Playoffs and just the 2nd overall, with Tamika Catchings doing so in a 2008 regular season game. (Per Across the Timeline)
A. Thomas tied Elaine Powell (37) and Sophia Young-Malcom (37) to become 43rd overall on the WNBA all-time playoff steals list finishing the night with two steals.
A. Thomas also moved past Jessica Breland (147), Alana Beard (148), Sue Bird (151), Kara Lawson (155), and Margo Dydek (156) to become 43rd overall on the WNBA all-time playoff career rebounding list.
A. Thomas passed Dawn Staley (91) to become 40th overall on WNBA assists list (93).
Jasmine Thomas played her 30th career playoff game on her 32nd birthday and ended the night with 12 points and added three assists.
DeWanna Bonner competed in her 59th playoff game, moving past Seimone Augustus (58) up to 8th all-time by herself. Bonner earned her 400th career playoff rebound and is just the 7th player with 400+ rebounds in the WNBA playoffs. She finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Brionna Jones added 11 points and brought down three rebounds.
Briann January finished the night with 12 points which moved her past Sylvia Fowles (609) and Tina Thompson (609) to become 22nd overall in WNBA all-time career playoff points (617).
Kahleah Copper led the way for Chicago and finished with 13 points and was held below her playoff average (17.3).
Courtney Vandersloot was held to just six assists and 10 points.
Candace Parker and Azurá Stevens added 12 and 10, respectively. Parker grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Connecticut scored 40 points in the paint compared to Chicago's 26. The Sun also had 19 second chance points where the Sky only had nine.
The Sun finished with 39 rebounds where Chicago finished with 26. The Connecticut bench outscored the Sky 25-15. As a team, the Sun shot 47 percent (31-66) from the field and the Sky shot 39.7 percent (26-63).
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