The Chicago Sky have won five straight games against the Connecticut Sun and six of the last seven, including a 3-1 victory in last year’s WNBA semifinals on their way to their first league championship.
Do the Sky have Connecticut’s number?
Perhaps for the moment.
The Sky erased a six-point deficit with 2:02 left in overtime with a 9-0 run that lifted Chicago to a 95-92 victory Sunday at an energetic and loud Mohegan Sun Arena.
But it has seldom been a blowout victory for Chicago. “We match up well with each other,” said Chicago’s slashing guard Courtney Vandersloot. “It’s always a competitive game with Connecticut. We’re two of the best teams in the league, in my view, and we always battle it out.”
For the Sun, it has been a series of excruciating defeats over the past year.
Chicago earned a double OT win at the Mohegan Sun Arena in game one of the semifinal series last September that changed the tone of the series. In game three of that same series, the Sun had four chances to take the lead in the final 20 seconds but couldn’t get the ball to drop in a three-point loss. In June, the Sun had the ball with three seconds left and a chance to tie the game but had the ball stolen in a three-point defeat.
“We’ve lost three or four games in the last two years against Chicago when it has come down to that final possession,” Sun coach and general manager Curt Miller said.
Connecticut (20-10) tried mightily on Sunday with a crowd of 6,254 trying to carry them over the top.
But Chicago (23-7) played with the precision of champion, hitting shots that took the air out of the building.
“They have elite penetrators (players that get into the lane for easier shots),” Miller said. “We just had trouble keeping (Kahleah) Copper off the baseline and away from small gaps. They are really, really tough to guard.”
Copper had 13 of her game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Sky had a two-point lead, 84-82, with 28 seconds remaining. When DeWanna Bonner’s three-point attempt bounced off the rim, Connecticut’s Courtney Williams soared to the ball and with one hand, she ripped down the rebound, took a few steps to move into some open space and downed a two-point shot with 16.7 seconds left to tie the game.
Chicago had a chance to win but Bonner knocked the ball out of Copper’s hands to force a turnover with 3.7 seconds left. Williams had a good shot as time expired but it bounced off the rim.
In overtime, the Sun built a six-point lead, 92-86 thanks to a jumper in the lane from Bonner, who had a season-high 23 points, Alyssa Thomas putting a rebound back up and into the basket, Williams draining a three-point shot with 2:35 remaining and a foul shot from Jonquel Jones.
But Chicago’s Allie Quigley sank a three-point shot with 1:50 left to cut the lead to three, 92-89. Vandersloot sank a pair of foul shots with 1:30 left and the Sky played good defense to force a Sun turnover on a shot clock violation.
Emma Messerman’s shot from the baseline hit the rim and rolled in with 47.3 seconds left to give the Sky a 93-92 lead.
The Sun missed their next shot and with 8.1 seconds left, Vandersloot found Quigley driving to the basket for two points and a three-point lead, 95-92, and a 9-0 run. Bonner’s three-point shot at the buzzer went off the rim.
Quigley finished with 13 points while Vandersloot finished 16 points and a game-high 12 assists. The Sky earned the win without Candace Parker, who has missed the last two games with a non-COVID illness.
Connecticut, which had a four-game losing streak snapped, was led by Bonner with 23 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Alyssa Thomas had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists while Williams had 16 points and eight rebounds. Brionna Jones had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Bonner had nine of the Sun’s 11 points to open the fourth quarter.
“We had opportunities but we came up short again,” Miller said. “It is amazing when you look at Chicago and (see) the amount of close games they have won this year and their competence in those moments.”
Chicago had a 17-point lead at one point in the second quarter but the Sun recovered in the second quarter with a 22-8 run to close out the first half and cut the lead to one.
“I know they are disappointed in that locker room but their fight put them in position to pull out that win,” Miller said.
The Sun, who clinched their sixth straight WNBA playoff berth last week with a win over Seattle, have six games remaining including a pair against the Phoenix Mercury and former UConn legend Diana Taurasi this week on Tuesday and Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Connecticut is currently the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and doesn’t want to slip to the No. 5 seed and give up home court advantage for the best-of-3 first round. The semifinals and the championship series will be a best-of-five. The top eight teams in the league – regardless of conference – qualify for the playoffs.
The Sky are currently the No. 1 seed followed by Las Vegas (22-8), who won the season series with the Sun, 2-1 – an important playoff tiebreaker.
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2025 and the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.
