UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Alyssa Thomas flexed under the basket and let out a celebratory roar as the Mohegan Sun Arena crowd rose to its feet and joined her in unison.
The Connecticut Sun forward had just grabbed a loose ball on defense, sprinted down the court and scored a fast break layup plus the foul. The bucket pushed her team’s lead back to double digits at the start of the fourth quarter.
With an assist to DeWanna Bonner on the next possession, Thomas recorded the first triple-double in WNBA Finals history. With the season on the line, she proved exactly why she’s the Sun’s engine, leading the way as they blew out the Aces, 105-76, in Game 3 Thursday night to extend the series.
Thomas finished the night with 16 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals.
The Sun are now undefeated in elimination games this postseason, winning in all four instances. In the best-of-three first round, they knocked out the Dallas Wings with a 73-58 victory in Game 3. In the best-of-five semifinal series against the Chicago Sky, they entered Game 4 down 2-1 and pulled out a dominant 104-80 win. They then went on to steal Game 5 on the road, 72-63, after an 18-0 run to end the contest.
Now trailing Las Vegas 2-1 in this finals series, Connecticut faces yet another must-win scenario this weekend. Game 4 will tip-off at 4 p.m. ET Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Along with Thomas’ dominant showing, Jonquel Jones led the Sun in scoring with 20 points. Bonner added 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Natisha Hiedeman (14), DiJonai Carrington (12) and Courtney Williams (11) scored in double-figures as well.
Ahead of Thursday night’s game the Sun talked about how important it was to get off to a better start. At first it didn’t look as though they’d rise to that challenge, with the Aces jumping out to a 9-2 lead. But then with 7:45 left in the first quarter Curt Miller called timeout and everything changed from there.
After missing their first two shots of the game, the Sun went on to make 14 of their next 15 attempts from the floor. The high-powered offensive performance was part of a 30-7 Connecticut run over the last seven minutes of the first quarter to take control. They led 34-19 at the end of the opening frame, setting a WNBA record for the most points ever scored in the first quarter of the finals.
The Aces’ largest deficit of the postseason entering the game had been 12 points. They trailed the Sun by as many as 23 points in the second quarter.
Las Vegas went on a 17-5 run over the last three minutes of the quarter, but Connecticut still held a sizable 53-42 lead at halftime. The Sun shot 60% from the field in the first half and their 19 assists in the first half were the most of any finals game in WNBA history.
The first half of the contest had an eerily similar feel to Game 4 of the semifinals, which Sun players credited as a turning point in their championship aspirations. But the Aces weren’t going away as easily as the Sky did in that one. Riquana Williams came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer with a little over a minute left in the third quarter to trim Connecticut’s lead to six points.
The Sun entered the fourth quarter with an eight point lead. It would only grow from there as they went on a 19-7 run over the first five minutes of the period, including the steal-and-score from Thomas to push the advantage back up to a comfortable 18 points. At that point, Aces coach Becky Hammon emptied her bench, signaling the white flag.
