Despite 30 from Hayes, New York tops Connecticut to even series

Connecticut’s Tiffany Hayes,shown earlier this season against Seattle, had 30 points in Tuesday night’s game two loss to New York in the WNBA semifinals.

For nearly a decade, Tiffany Hayes was the focal point of the offense for the Atlanta Dream, helping the team reach the WNBA finals in 2013 and secure five WNBA playoff berths.

She was brought to the Connecticut Sun last winter to provide some consistent scoring punch at guard, which the Sun were lacking in last year’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA finals.

She averaged 12.1 points per game this season, her lowest output since her second year in the league.

On Tuesday night, Hayes tried to carry the Sun in game two of their WNBA semifinal series with the New York Liberty. Hayes, the 11^th-year guard from UConn, tied her playoff career high with 30 points but it wasn’t enough as the Liberty tied the best-of-five series at 1-1 with an 84-77 victory.

Game three will be Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. Game four is Sunday at 1 p.m. in Uncasville.

Hayes sank six of her first seven shots from the floor and had 12 points after one quarter and 17 at the half on 7-of-8 shooting. Her 30 points matched a playoff career high that she set with the Dream against Chicago in 2016.

DeWanna Bonner had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Sun while Thomas had 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Rebecca Allen, who had a playoff career-high 18 points in game one, was in foul trouble for most of the second half and finished with just six points. Natisha Hiedeman, who had 12 points in game one, got sick on the sideline in the first half and didn’t score.

The Liberty, meanwhile, had five players in double figures, led by Sabrina Ionescu with 21 points. Betnijah Laney had 20 points and tied a franchise record for most three-point shots in a playoff game (5-of-7) with Courtney Vandersloot scoring 19 with three 3-point shots.

Former UConn star Breanna Stewart, who was named league MVP for the second time earlier in the day, had 11 points and five blocks while former Sun star Jonquel Jones had 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

“Tiff was awesome. That is what we needed from her and she gets downhill (get to the rim),” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “She gets to the rim She knocks down shots for us. She is really the only one we have that can get downhill at will. I thought she was outstanding. We will continue to need that from her and production from everyone else. We have to do it by committee.”

Hayes was slowed by a left knee injury in the final weeks of the season but she has been playing with more speed and aggression in the playoffs.

“DB (Bonner) is always telling me no one can guard you. No one can guard you. I took that tonight,” Hayes said “My coaches are always telling me to get to the basket. I can’t be stagnant.”

The Sun, who lost all four regular season games to the Liberty this season, stunned New York in game one with a 78-63 victory, holding the home team to their lowest scoring output of the season.

The Liberty came out inspired in game two and built and early seven-point lead. But the Sun, behind Hayes used an 13-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead early in the second quarter, 24-16. Hayes had 14 of the 24 points for Connecticut.

The lead got as high as 12 when Bonner got through three Liberty defenders and got to the basket for two points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored inside the lane off a pretty assist from Thomas for a 30-18 lead.

Sparked by Ionescu, the Liberty closed out the quarter with a 20-12 run to cut the lead to four by halftime.

In game one, the Sun started off the third quarter with a 16-2 run to grab command of the contest. On Tuesday night, it was New York that opened the second half with a 18-5 run. An 11-0 spurt gave the Liberty a 56-47 lead with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Connecticut remained determined and continued to drive to the basket. A seven-point run with a basket from Thomas and five foul shots cut the lead to two, 59-57 after three quarters.

A three-point shot from Hayes with 9:26 remaining trimmed the Liberty lead to two, 62-60 but Ionescu hit a pair of foul shots – the Liberty were a perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe  — and then Laney stole a soft pass, drove the basket for a layup and was fouled. She hit the foul shot to boost the lead back to seven, 67-60.

The Sun cut the lead to five twice on a four-point play by Bonner with 3:50 remaining and a drive to the basket from Hayes with 2:02 remaining but Connecticut could get no closer.

“We gave them a fight,” White said. “We got a little stagnant (offensively) when they went to the zone. It’s a tough one. I certainly expect it to be a long series.

“They did what they needed to do,” she said. “They have a lot of weapons and it is tough to contain them all.”

“We felt like it was a do or die situation,” New York’s Jonquel Jones said. “We needed to get back to New York Liberty style of basketball. The preparation (for the game) was humbling. (Connecticut) was able to expose us (in game one) in a lot of ways.”

New York 84, Connecticut 77
At New York
Connecticut (77) Allen 3-7 0-0 6, Bonner 6-15 5-8 19, Thomas 2-13 6-6 10, Hayes 12-19 1-2 30, Hiedeman 0-2 0-0 0, Nelson-Ododa 2-6 0-0 4, Harris 2-6 2-2 8. Totals 27-68 14-18 77
New York (84) Laney 7-11 1-1 20, Stewart 3-13 4-4 11, Jones 5-12 1-1 11, Ionescu 5-12 10-10 21, Vandersloot 8-13 0-0 19, Thornton 0-1 0-0 0, Johannes 0-2 0-0 0, Dolson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-65 16-16 84
New York 10-26 (Laney 5-7, Stewart 1-4, Jones 0-2, Ionescu 1-6, Vandersloot 3-4, Thornton 0-1, Hohannes 0-2
Connecticut       22  20  15  20  — 77
New York            16  22  21  25  — 84
Three-point goals: Connecticut 9-23 (Allen 0-2, Bonner 2-8, Thomas 0-0, Hayes 5-8, Hiedeman 0-1, Nelson-Ododa 0-0, Harris 2-4); New York 10-26 (Laney 5-7, Stewart 1-4, Jones 0-2, Ionescu 1-6, Vandersloot 3-4, Thornton 0-1, Hohannes 0-2; Att: 10,009 (sellout)

WNBA semifinals
Sunday, Sept 24
Connecticut 78, New York 63
Tuesday, Sept. 26
New York 84, Connecticut 77, series tied 1-1
Friday, Sept. 29
New York at Connecticut, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday, Oct. 1
New York at Connecticut, 3 p.m. (ABC)
Tuesday, Oct. 3
Connecticut at New York, if necessary