UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Championship windows only come around so often. And when they do, they only stay open for so long.
That’s something Connecticut Sun coaches and players have had honest conversations about this postseason. They’d gotten close to winning it all in each of the last few years, making the WNBA finals in 2019 and the semifinals in 2020 and 2021, but each time fell short. With free agency and salary cap restrictions expected to shake up the roster this offseason, the Sun entered an elimination game Tuesday night with the clock ticking.
Back in the same position as last year, down 2-1 to the Chicago Sky in the semifinals, Connecticut pulled out a 104-80 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena to extend the best-of-five series.
Game 5 will be Thursday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The winner will advance to the WNBA finals to face either the Seattle Storm or Las Vegas Aces.
DeWanna Bonner and Courtney Williams scored 19 points apiece to lead the Sun. Bonner also had six rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks, while Williams added four rebounds and three assists. Alyssa Thomas also had an impressive night, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
The Sun came out with a different level of intensity from the opening tip, knowing full well their season was on the line. They jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes after making five of their first six shots. Connecticut led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter, surpassing its largest lead (eight) in any game in the series.
Thomas led much of that effort in a dominant showing. At one point she had as many points (nine) and rebounds (four) as the entire Sky team.
Playing the best they had at any point through the prior three contests, especially on offense, the Sun held at 30-22 advantage at the end of the first frame.
Connecticut continued its strong offensive performance into the second quarter, refusing to let off the gas. They showed toughness inside, scoring four and-one buckets — met with flexing, shouting and cheers from a pumped up home crowd — in the half, including a buzzer-beater from DiJonai Carrington.
The Sun led the Sky 58-41 at halftime, tying their most points in a half all season. They shot 59.5% from the field, had a 38-22 scoring edge in the paint and a 11-0 advantage on second-chance points.
Though Chicago shot 17 of 34 (50%) from the field in the half, Connecticut limited Candace Parker. She had been sensational in each of the prior three games, averaging 19 points, 11 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 4 blocks and 2.3 steals across the first three games. However, she didn’t score her first bucket of Game 4 until under a minute was left in the first half. She finished the night with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting, along with nine rebounds and four assists.
The Sun made much more of an effort with their off-ball movement on offense throughout the game, and it paid off. With under five minutes left in the third quarter, Williams got open off a backdoor cut and Brionna Jones found her in the paint for an easy layup to extend the lead to 70-52. Williams had the hot hand in the third quarter, scoring 10 of Connecticut’s first 12 points in the period.
The Mohegan Sun crowd erupted after Bonner and Odyssey Sims made back-to-back buckets with 2.6 seconds left in the third. First Bonner made a 3-pointer from the corner. Then Sims sprinted and stole the ball from Julie Allemand on an inbounds play and scored a bucket as the buzzer sounded. The Sun were up 83-61, their largest lead of the night, entering the final quarter.
The Sun had pretty much put the game out of reach by the midway point of the fourth quarter, up 27 points to force a Sky timeout. But a few minutes later Chicago had trimmed its deficit to 16 points behind an 11-0 run. Miller put his starters back in the game from there, but with two minutes remaining they were back resting comfortably on the bench, their season still alive and well.
