CHICAGO — DeWanna Bonner had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the Connecticut Sun to a 68-63 win over Chicago Sky in Game 1 of their WNBA semi-finals series.
Sun coach Curt Miller knows his team won´t be able beat the defending WNBA champions on style points or offensive prowess alone.
To beat the Sky in a five-game series, Miller believes you can´t be afraid to make a mess.
“A lot of free flowing offenses of the four teams left, and we know who we are,” Miller said according to AP.
“We´re blue collar. We´re going to be good around the basket, we´re going to rebound and we´re going to defend our tails off. But we have to make it messy.”
Jonquel Jones scored 12 points and also grabbed nine rebounds for the Sun, Alyssa Thomas had 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Brionna Jones added 12 points. Jonquel Jones was 5 for 8 from the field and Brionna Jones shot 6 for 8.
“We´ve got so many weapons on this team,” Bonner said. “Whoever they focus on, it could be anybody´s night. (Jonquel Jones) hit the biggest shot of the game, probably, when we were down one or two.”
Candace Parker had 19 points and 18 rebounds for the Sky, and Kahleah Copper scored 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Chicago had a season-low 63 points and shot 35.3% for its lowest percentage in a playoff game since 2014.
“We missed some bunnies, we missed a few chippers,” Sky coach James Wade said. “A couple of times, we got out of pick and rolls and we had shots at the rim, but we didn´t make them. We´ve just got to make those shots.”
Game 2 is back here Wednesday night.
After Emma Meeseman’s 3-pointer with 2:12 remaining gave Chicago a 63-62 lead and whipped the Wintrust Arena crowd into a frenzy, the Sun missed their final four shots.
Jonquel Jones scored inside 27 seconds later to put the Sun back ahead. Bonner made two free throws with 1:31 left to extend the lead, and Connecticut got two offensive rebounds to kill some time off the clock, and Bonner made a layup with 3.8 seconds left to seal the win.
Brionna Jones said the Sun did well in executing their aggressive game plan, but another key was only fouling seven times while playing physically. Chicago went 7 of 9 at the line.
“It´s definitely a point of emphasis,” Jones said. “We´ve got to keep them off the free throw line.”
Connecticut outscored Chicago 20-12 in the third quarter as Natisha Hiedeman and Bonner made 3s and Bonner hit a pull-up jumper to move into double figures.
Parker strung a slick pass to Copper in transition for her first bucket since the first quarter to pull Chicago within four points with 8:47 left.
Miller said veterans such as Bonner and Thomas kept the Sun composed as the home crowd tried to will Chicago to a win.
“We were rattled in the fourth quarter, and our veterans settled down and we made enough plays to win this game,” Miller said.
“This is what this series against each other has really come down to, those last couple of minutes, over and over and over again. Tonight, we made those plays.”
Copper went 4 of 4 and hit a 3 for 11 points in the first half as the teams entered the break tied at 34.
Connecticut built an eight-point first quarter lead by scoring 11 points off six Chicago turnovers, but the Sky climbed back into it as Copper and Parker combined for 18-first half points.
Jones hit 3 of 4 shots to lead Connecticut with eight points and snagged four rebounds and two steals in a first half that had seven lead changes and five ties.
Elsewhere, Jewell Loyd scored 26 points, including Seattle´s final six, and the Storm edged the Las Vegas Aces 76-73 to take a 1-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals.
Chelsea Gray scored 21 points for the top-seeded Aces. Kelsey Plum added 20, but missed a tying 3-point attempt with 2.9 seconds to play. Jackie Young finished with 11 points but Aces star A´ja Wilson was held to just eight on 3-of-10 shooting.
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