Tyasha Harris’ 20 points led five players in double figures Sunday as the Connecticut Sun rallied in the second half to force a decisive fifth game in their WNBA semifinal series with the Minnesota Lynx, earning a 92-82 win in Uncasville, Conn.
The winner of Tuesday night’s contest in Minneapolis will advance to the WNBA Finals against top-seeded New York. The Liberty closed out two-time champion Las Vegas 76-62 to win their best-of-five series 3-1 earlier in the day.
“Both of these franchises have been here, right?” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “We have a lot of players on our roster that have been here that understand certainly what it takes — and tonight’s effort is not going to be good enough.”
Connecticut tied this series at 2-2 by shutting down Minnesota’s potent offense in the second half. The Lynx missed their first 10 3-point attempts after hitting nine in the first half. And the Sun controlled the lane, earning a 50-30 advantage in paint points.
DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas each added 18 points for Connecticut, with Thomas chipping in 11 assists and eight rebounds. DiJonai Carrington scored 15 points and Marina Mabrey came off the bench to tally 10.
Harris was 4-of-5 from 3-point range, including two critical longballs in the fourth quarter, the second of which gave Connecticut an 82-69 lead with 4:45 to play.
“Stay composed, be poised and be ready when your number is called,” Harris said of her performance.
Napheesa Collier put up game highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, while Natisha Hiedeman came off the bench to add 16 points. Courtney Williams contributed 11.
“(The defense has) not been good the last two games,” Collier said. “So, we have to go home and defend our home court. We’re both playing for our lives, so we have to play at that level of intensity.”
Connecticut outscored the Lynx 24-19 in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 15 points down the stretch. The Sun hit 53.7 percent of their field-goal attempts.
Looking to close out the series, Minnesota got off to a good start behind Collier. She scored nine points in a span of about 4 1/2 minutes as the Lynx established a 22-12 lead before settling for a 22-15 advantage after one quarter.
Minnesota kept converting in the second quarter, restoring 10-point margins on three occasions. When Connecticut got within four points, Hiedeman quieted the crowd by swishing a running 29-footer from the left wing as time expired for a 50-43 halftime cushion.
The Sun made their move in the third quarter. They took the lead for good with 2:40 left when Bonner turned Carrington’s pass into an alley-oop layup, and Thomas drove for a layup with 1.2 seconds remaining for a 68-63 lead going to the fourth period.
–Field Level Media
