Top-seeded Sun eliminated by Sky
GAME 4 SKY 76 SUN 69
Down goes No.1.
And with it, Connecticut’s historic regular season and hopes of the franchise’s first title, are also over.
After an historic regular season and a thrilling semifinal series, the Sun fell 79-69 to No. 6 Chicago in Game No. 4 of the WNBA playoff semifinals Wednesday night in Chicago. The Sky, who won the series 3-1, advance to the finals for the first time since 2014 and will face either the Aces or Mercury.
While the Sun ended the regular season on a league-best 14-game win streak and with the franchise’s record win percentage, Connecticut simply could not match up against a Sky team (which ended the regular season 16-16) playing its best basketball when it matters most.
“Sometimes wanting it so bad at times gets you out of character in these big games,” Connecticut head coach Curt Miller said. “I thought our want to fire to win was so high that at times we were out of character tonight.”
“I think all series we never really clicked the way we wanted to,” the Sun’s Jasmine Thomas said. “I don’t think it came down to any one game for us, I think we kinda searched for a rhythm that we had at the end of that regular season but never really got back to playing that style of Sun basketball in this series.”
The Sky’s win marks the franchise’s second finals appearance and their first led by Candace Parker, who joined the team this season after 13 years with Los Angeles. Parker led the Sky with nine rebounds and seven assists on top of 17 points in Wednesday’s game.
“She’s amazing. She’s accom
plished everything and it’s funny to say but she’s probably one of the most underrated women’s basketball players of all time,” Chicago head coach and general manager James Wade said. “She brings so much attention and think about the pressure and care in that and then she chose to come home knowing there would be more pressure and able to be that person for us that we can lean on in times like these.”
An hour before tip-off the Sun received the news starter Briann January would sit out the game due to both knee and ankle injuries suffered during a breakaway layup on Sunday in Game 3.
January was the Sun’s primary defensive weapon against the Sky’s Allie Quigley earlier in the series and it was her absence on the court Wednesday night that ultimately left Connecticut empty handed when going against the high-energy “offensive juggernaut” of the Sky.
“Just a disappointing eight-day stretch where we just were out-coached, were out-played, we just couldn’t get enough disruption on their really really talented offensive weapons,” Miller said. “Just felt like we were always on our heals this series in individual games, always coming from behind and it just caught up with us.”
Kaila Charles started in place of Janurary in Connecticut’s s lineup. The two-year veteran earned her fifth start of the season and her first of the playoffs on Wednesday.
However, January’s presence was immediately noted in Wednesday’s matchup despite Charles in her place.
Not only could the Sun not find a defensive stop against Quigley, but were also no match for making Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot uncomfortable.
Chicago opened the game with a 13-2 lead thanks to two big 3-pointers from Vandersloot which led to the Sky twice leading by as much as 11 points. WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones guided the Sun through an 8-0 run to get within three, but another 3-pointer from Vandersloot (team-high 19 points), closed the first quarter with Chicago up 32-26.
Connecticut struggled to create offensive success just as it struggled to force defensive stops against the Sky’s dominate energy to start the game — something Chicago had brought to every game of the semifinal series.
Even when Vandersloot received her third personal foul of the game at 5:40 in the second quarter, the Sun still could not slow down the Sky, allowing Chicago to shoot 58% from the field in the first half. On defense, Chicago kept Connecticut scoreless through the final near three minutes of the second quarter to lead by 13 going into halftime thanks to the length of former UConn women’s basketball player Azura Stevens (finished with 11 points and seven rebounds).
With so much on the line, the Sun came out of halftime with an increased sense of urgency. A 3-pointer from Natisha Hiedeman sparked a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to seven, including forcing a shot clock violation on the Sky.
But just like they had earlier all series long, the Sky responded with an even greater surge of their own. An 11-0 Chicago run increase its lead to a gamehigh 18 points.
“We got the tempo, we got our defense really rolling in the second half, but as we got that band aid and that hole patched, our offense efficiency dipped and we weren’t nearly as offensively efficient either,” Miller said. “You patch one leak and another leak came in this series and we just couldn’t string together long enough.”
Chicago started the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run, highlighted by Vandersloot’s fifth 3-pointer of the night, tying her career high from behind the arc and put Chicago back ahead by double digits to secure the upset.
Connecticut failed to regain its momentum as the fourth quarter closed and the final buzzer rang out, signaling the Sky’s advancement to the Finals and the end of the season for the Sun.
“That’s what makes it so hard, is they (Sun players) wanted it so bad for themselves, for that group of 11, but they wanted it for our franchise,” Miller said. “Our franchise is still without a championship and we’ve been to at least the semifinals for three straight years and have been really consistently one of the top four teams but ultimately at this level it’s about championships and so it’s just an empty feeling right now that we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing over the last eight days.”