UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Connecticut Sun’s 2021 playoff run started on a disappointing note with the top seed falling to the No. 6 Chicago Sky, 101-95, in double overtime in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday night.
It was the first time the Sun have lost a game since Aug. 12 when they fell in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship, and it was only the second time they were defeated at home all season.
Jonquel Jones led the Sun with 26 points and 11 rebounds just hours after being announced league MVP. Candace Parker had 22 points for Chicago, while Courtney Vandersloot had a triple-double with 12 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds. The Sun uncharacteristically went 22 for 31 from the free-throw line, helping cost them the game.
The Sun trailed by 11 twice in the first quarter before rattling off eight unanswered points, including three free-throw makes from Natisha Hiedeman after she was fouled right before the buzzer, to close within three. DeWanna Bonner’s layup gave the Sun their first lead of the night at 36-34 with 3:10 left in the half, and they went up by five following Jasmine Thomas’ steal and score shortly after. But Diamond DeShields’ personal 7-0 run, including a 3 with 1.3 seconds on the clock, gave the Sky a 47-46 edge at the break.
Jones had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in the first half alone. Parker, a two-time MVP who is in her first season with Chicago, led the Sky with 13 points at the half.
In a back-and-forth third quarter the Sun retook the lead briefly on a Hiedeman 3, but their offensive sputtering allowed the Sky to climb ahead, 66-63, going into the fourth. Chicago went up by six after a Stefanie Dolson 3 early in the fourth and led by four with less than three minutes to play.
But the Sun clawed their way back in it after Briann January hit a baseline jumper at the 2:10 mark. Though she missed the ensuing free throw, Jones tied it on the next Sun possession with a pair of free throws with 1:09 on the clock.
Brionna Jones put the Sun ahead by two with a put-back layup with 24.7 seconds to play, but Bonner fouled Kahleah Copper on a 3-point attempt to send her to the line. Copper went 2 for 3 to tie it with 19.3 on the clock and the Sun came up empty on their final possession of regulation to ensure overtime.
The Sun trailed early in overtime but Brionna Jones gave them their first lead, 90-89, at the 1:50 mark off a layup over Parker, though Connecticut lost that edge with Copper’s layup with 46 seconds to go.
January went 1 for 2 from the line after being fouled with 25.1 seconds to play, and though the Sun got a last stop they didn’t attempt a shot at the end of the first overtime period.
Chicago took a four-point lead with just short of 90 seconds left after baskets from Parker and Dolson. Though Brionna made it three-point game with 13.7 seconds left, the Sun weren’t able to convert and the Sky kept hitting their free throws to come out with the win.
Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Thursday at 8 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.
