The Connecticut Sun used their experience and back-to-back three-pointers from forward DeWanna Bonner and guard Marina Mabrey to hold back a late attack by the Indiana Fever to post an 87-81 win in front of an announced crowd of 8,910 at Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday to advance to the semifinal round of the WNBA playoffs.
Indiana jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a three-pointer from guard Caitlin Clark, and then extended that to a 10-4 run with a layup and three-pointer from guard Kelsey Mitchell and a layup from guard Lexie Hull. Connecticut went 1-for-12 shooting in the first six minutes of the contest with the lone field goal being a layup from guard DiJonai Carrington. Indiana led 13-4 with 4:00 left in the opening quarter.
Connecticut forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored on a layup and Hull converted one of two free throws to give Indiana the 14-6 lead. Then Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas decided to propel her team forward.
Thomas made back-to-back layups, then Mabrey added a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one point. Bonner sank two free throws after getting fouled by Hull, to give the Sun a 15-14 lead. The quarter ended with two free throws by Nelson-Ododa after getting fouled by forward Temi Fagbenle. Connecticut ended the first quarter on an 11-0 run and the 17-14 lead. Both teams went 5-for-20 (25 percent) from the field during the opening frame.
Connecticut added to their run when the second quarter began. Mabrey scored a layup, guard Veronica Burton made a three-pointer and a layup, followed by a layup from Carrington. With 7:32 left in the half, Connecticut held onto a 26-16 lead after a 20-2 run.
Clark made a layup to break the run, which was followed by two free throws from center Aliyah Boston to cut the deficit to six points.
The teams exchanged baskets during the last half of the quarter which ended with the Sun holding onto a 41-34 lead at halftime. Clark led all scorers in the first half with 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting.
The Fever opened the second half on a 7-0 run with a three-pointer from Hull and layups from Clark and Boston, to tie the score at 41-41. However, Bonner made a jump shot and Carrington stole the ball from Clark, which she converted at the other end into a fast break layup to put Connecticut up by four points again.
The Fever went on another short run with a layup from Clark, three-pointer from Mitchell and a fast break layup from Hull to give Indiana a 48-47 lead with 5:17 left in the third quarter.
Again, Thomas decided it was time to carry her team again. Thomas made a jump shot and then a layup, which was followed by a jumper from Nelson-Ododa to jump out to a 6-0 run. Clark responded with a jump shot for Indiana.
Connecticut wasn’t done. Burton converted two free throws after getting fouled by Clark, and then Thomas scored three of the last four baskets of the quarter, a layup by Boston being the only Indiana basket in the final three minutes. The Sun went on a 14-4 run since Indiana took the lead at the 5:17 mark to take a 61-52 lead at the end of three quarters. Thomas led all scorers with 10 points in the third quarter.
The Fever knew they had to work hard to overcome a nine point deficit with 10 minutes left to play, and work they did. After Mabrey made two free throws after getting fouled by Hull, Fagbenle scored on a layup and Mitchell hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to six. Thomas made a layup and a free throw after getting fouled by Hull to put the Sun back up by nine points with 7:53 remaining in regulation.
Indiana pushed a 6-2 run with two baskets from Dantas and one from Mitchell, but then extended it to a 14-4 run with a midrange jumper and three-pointer from Clark, and a three-pointer from Fagbenle, only the third of the season and the fourth in her career. Clark’s three-pointer gave the Fever the 71-70 lead with 4:00 remaining in the game.
For the next two minutes the teams exchanged baskets. Mabrey hit a three-pointer to put Connecticut up by two, then Fagbenle made a layup to tie. Boston made a layup which was answered by one from Bonner to tie. Boston made another layup to give Indiana a 77-75 lead with 2:05 left in the contest, but it would prove to be their last.
Bonner took back the Connecticut lead with a three-pointer with 1:51 left in the game and Mabrey made one just over a minute later. Connecticut now led 81-77 with 45.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
Indiana sent Carrington and Bonner to the free throw line with two transition take fouls. The Connecticut players made all four free throws to extend their lead.
The game ended when Mitchell made a layup with 0.9 seconds left on the clock and was fouled by Mabrey. Mitchell intentionally missed the free throw, which was rebounded by Bonner as time expired. Connecticut won the game 87-81 and won the best-of-three series 2-0.
Connecticut went 30-for-72 (41.7 percent) from the field; 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) from three-point range; and 22-for-23 (95.7 percent) from the free throw line. They committed eight turnovers which led to seven Indiana points.
“We came out, got knocked in the mouth, we responded. We got knocked in the mouth again and we made winning plays down the stretch. Those winning plays came from lots of different people,” said Sun head coach Stephanie White. “That’s the thing that I’m most proud of – we got contributions from everyone who set foot on the floor, especially in the fourth quarter, who made plays that were critical for us to come away with a win.”
The Fever went 33-for-76 (43.4 percent) from the field; 8-for-30 (26.7 percent) from three-point range; and 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from the charity stripe. They turned the ball over 16 times for 14 Connecticut points.
“We’re all competitors in that locker room and so it doesn’t feel good. It just doesn’t feel good to leave here and not have the opportunity to get another one and an opportunity to move forward,” said Fever head coach Christie Sides.
The Fever led 48-40 in points-in-the-paint and had the 19-9 advantage in fast break points, but Connecticut held the 11-6 lead in second chance points. There were four ties and seven lead changes.
We have to be disciplined to our coverages. We can’t get lazy. We can’t lose our focus. We can’t relax. I mean, Indiana’s a hell of a team and they have five players on the floor that can beat you in a lot of different ways. We just weren’t locked in at times,” said White.
Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 19 points. Marina Mabrey added 17 points, DeWanna Bonner pitched in for 15, while DiJonai Carrington and Veronica Burton each chipped in with 10 points. Thomas also led the Sun with eight rebounds and 13 assists.
The Fever was led by 25 points from Caitlin Clark. Kelsey Mitchell made 17 points and Aliyah Boston added 16 points. Boston also pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds, which is also a career high. Lexie Hull led Indiana with five assists.
“Tough one because of the way we climbed back in. We definitely had our opportunities late, and a few different miscues and then it’s back to a two possession game and we couldn’t get over the hump there,” said Clark. “This team won five games two years ago. We’re a young group. We’re an inexperienced group but we came together and had a lot of fun playing with one another. That’s sometimes the worst part of it, you’re playing your best basketball and it has to end.”
Connecticut now advances to the WNBA semifinal round best-of-five series against the winner of the Minnesota Lynx-Phoenix Mercury first round series.
