UNCASVILLE, Conn. _ With a sellout crowd for their first home game of the WNBA Finals and the possibility of Mystics starters Elena Delle Donne and Ariel Atkins sitting out with injuries, pressure was on the Connecticut Sun to take advantage and earn a Game 3 victory that would put them one win away from clinching the WNBA title.
While the Mystics ultimately played both Delle Donne and Atkins, it was the entire Mystics roster that undid the Sun. Washington hit a staggering 16 three-pointers and held the Sun to a 25% clip from beyond the arc on their way to a 94-81 victory.
The Sun are now on the brink of elimination, as Washington, up 2-1 in the series, has the chance to clinch the title on Tuesday night, when the Sun host the Mystics for Game 4 of the best-of-five series, 8 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Shekinna Stricklen and Jasmine Thomas led the Sun with 16 points each, while Bria Holmes added 15 off the bench. The bigger issue for the Sun: Courtney Williams and Jonquel Jones were limited to four and nine points, respectively.
Briefly, it looked like the Sun could make things interesting. Despite trailing by 17 points late in the first quarter, the Sun went on a 12-2 run before halftime, with back-to-back three-pointers from Stricklen and Thomas, the Sun's first threes of the game, cutting the deficit to two in the final minute of the half.
While the Sun pulled within one twice early in the second half, the Mystics were able to build a comfortable lead going into the third quarter, and three straight threes from Emma Meesseman to start the fourth opened things up for good. Connecticut cut the Mystics' lead to 10 with three minutes to go in the fourth, but weren't able to pull any closer.
