UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The third-seeded Connecticut Sun coasted to a 93-68 win over the sixth-seeded Dallas Wings in Game 1 of a first-round WNBA playoff series on Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is noon Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena. If the Sun win they will move on to the semifinals and face either the Chicago Sky or New York Liberty.
Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, along with seven assists. Jonquel Jones had 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Courtney Williams had 10 points, six assists and two rebounds. DeWanna Bonner and DiJonai Carrington also finished in double figures with 12 and 13 points, respectively.
The Wings were without leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale, who missed the end of the regular season and is out for the first round of the playoffs. Satou Sabally (ankle) and Isabelle Harrison (shoulder) were listed as questionable entering the contest, but would both end up playing.
Sabally, who hadn’t played since July 12, had 10 points. Allisha Gray led the Wings with 17 points.
The Sun were in control for most of the night and led the Wings 47-37 at halftime. Dallas closed the gap to five points in the third quarter before Connecticut put things away.
With a little over four minutes left in the third quarter Williams found a wide-open Natisha Hiedeman on the wing for a 3-pointer. The basket capped a 13-0 run for Connecticut to extend its advantage. The Sun led 68-50 at the end of the period.
Dallas wouldn’t get any closer than 15 points from there as Connecticut ran away with the playoff victory.