Delle Donne leads Mystics to 95-86 Game 1 win over Sun

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, (AP): With the Connecticut Sun rallying, Elena Delle Donne wouldn’t be denied down the stretch for the Washington Mystics in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

The league’s MVP scored two big baskets for Washington after Connecticut had cut their deficit to four in the fourth quarter and the Mystics held off the Sun 95-86.

“It’s nice to have a weapon like that that can make those plays because there’s not very many that can,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said. “But like Alyssa Thomas is an elite defender, and when she bodies up on 99 percent of the people in the league and they’ve picked up their dribble, she usually gets them stopped. But we all know that EDD’s step-through in that last movement to the basket where she leans in and can create space and get her shot off is the only person in the world that does that.”

Atkins followed with a 3-pointer that made it a nine-point game and then corralled an offensive rebound that Toliver finished off with a finger roll down the lane with 3:16 left.

“Ariel Atkins’ contribution was huge today, from making her first three of the game to being aggressive,” Thibault said. “That looked like the Ariel from last year in the playoffs, and that offensive rebound she got late in the game was a huge saver for us. It gave us the last piece of momentum that we needed.”

The Sun could only get within eight the rest of the way.

Courtney Williams scored 26 points and Alyssa Thomas added 20 to lead Connecticut, playing the finals for the first time since 2005.

After a tight first 6 minutes Mike Thibault inserted Emma Meesseman into the lineup playing all three of Washington’s bigs together. It was a lineup that Connecticut didn’t see during the three regular season meetings. Delle Donne missed the first game because of knee pain. Meesseman missed the other two games because she was with the Belgium national team.

The pair along with LaToya Sanders helped Washington go on a 12-0 run to close the quarter and give the Mystics a 30-17 lead.

Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne reacts after getting fouled while scoring in the second half of Game 1 of basketball’s WNBA Finals against the Connecticut Sun on Sept 29, 2019 in Washington. (AP)