Aces edge Sun to advance to Finals
There will be no re-run for Connecticut. Not this year.
The Sun came up a game short in their quest to return to the WNBA Finals, falling 66-63 to topseeded Las Vegas in the decisive Game 5 of their semifinal series on Tuesday at IMG
Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
MVP A’ja Wilson scored a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds and Angel McCoughtry added 20 points to outlast the Sun (14-15), who are still searching for their first championship.
Game 1 of the Finals between Las Vegas and Seattle will tip off Friday at 7 p.m.
“Honestly, that locker room thinks they could’ve won the championship,” Sun coach Curt Miller said. “We believe that much in our defense. It’s heartbreaking for them, but I’m so proud of how far they’ve come.”
It was Connecticut’s offense that faltered down the stretch. The Sun went cold over the final 20 minutes, managing just 18 points after leading by as many as 16 in the second quarter.
The Sun shot just 36 percent on the night, including 3-of-19 from beyond the arc. They also committed 15 turnovers.
“You credit their defense a little bit,” Miller said. “They continued to congest us. We struggled at times on the defensive glass. We couldn’t get out and run as well as we did in the first quarter. It was grinding to a halt.
“You shoot under 25 percent for a half, I don’t care what level you coach at, you don’t win a lot of games when you shoot under 25 percent for a half.”
Despite those struggles,
the Sun led 63-62 with 2:39 left. But four consecutive free throws by Wilson put the Aces (21-6) back in front, and it was over after DeWanna Bonner misfired on a 20-footer with 1.9 seconds remaining.
“I was trying to run a down screen, but they switched it,” Bonner said of the final play. “They just played good defense on the play.”
Alyssa Thomas paced Connecticut with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Bonner had 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.
The Sun led by as many as 16 points in the first half, 35-19, following a 3-pointer by Natisha Hiedeman. However, Las Vegas answered, trimming it to 45-39 at halftime before retaking the lead, 50-49, on a 13-0 spurt in the third.
“We had eight turnovers in the quarter,” Miller said of the third. “That hurt us because we weren’t getting shots on goal. Baskets started to be hard to come by. You could tell we were getting frustrated on the offensive end in those situations.”
AT NAMED TO ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Thomas was selected to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team while former UConn stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier garnered All-Defensive Second Team honors.
The league’s 12 coaches selected the teams by position and were not allowed to vote for players on their own teams.
Thomas led the league in steals (2 .0) and was fifth in defensive rebounding (7.2) during the regular season. The First Team honor is a first for Thomas, who was a Second Team pick in 2017 and 2019.
“She anchors our defense,” Miller said during his pregame availability. “She’s one of the few in the league that guards all five positions.”
Joining Thomas on the First Team were Seattle’s Alysha Clark (unanimous selection), Phoenix’s Brianna Turner and Atlanta’s Betnijah Laney and Elizabeth Williams.