BRADENTON, Fla. — Alyssa Thomas had 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, DeWanna Bonner added 23 points and 12 boards, and the seventh-seeded Connecticut Sun beat the No. 6 seed Sky 94-81 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the playoffs.
Connecticut will play either third-seeded Los Angeles or No. 4 seed Minnesota on Thursday in another single-elimination round.
The result caps a disappointing finish to a season that began with high hopes for the Sky. They had their best start to a season since 2013, going 10-4. But they went 2-6 the rest of the way in the abbreviated 22-game season, hurt by injuries and the departures of Azura Stevens (knee) and Diamond DeShields (personal).
Thomas beat the halftime buzzer with a hook shot in the lane to tie it at 41, and Connecticut started the second half on a 13-2 run with six points from Jasmine Thomas. Chicago was outscored 27-11 in the game-changing quarter.
Brionna Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for Connecticut, which overcome a franchise-worst 0-5 start to the season. The Sun had a 40-21 advantage on the glass.
Allie Quigley scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Kahleah Copper added 17 points and Gabby Williams had 16 for Chicago. Courtney Vandersloot had 12 points and six assists.
It was a memorable season for Vandersloot, who became the first player in WNBA history to average 10 assists per game after totaling 220.
