The Sun Scored The Final 18 Points To Beat The Sky And Advance To The WNBA Finals

On Tuesday evening, the Las Vegas Aces punched a ticket to the 2022 WNBA Finals with a Game 4 victory over the Seattle Storm. Earlier that night, the Connecticut Sun evened a semifinal series against the Chicago Sky with a Game 4 win of their own, setting up a winner-take-all scenario on Thursday in Chicago. With both teams winning road games already in the series, anything could seemingly happen in Game 5, and it was a back-and-forth contest. In the end, it was the Sun using a massive fourth-quarter run to emerge with the 72-63 victory and a berth in the finals.

Near the outset, the Sun used a 12-4 run to take control. That push featured an explosion from Natisha Hiedeman, who scored eight of the first 16 points, and Connecticut appeared comfortable.

Connecticut led by a 24-16 margin after the first quarter, and the Sun shot 53 percent from the floor with eight assists. On the other side, the Sky scuffled to 5-of-14 shooting with four turnovers, allowing the visitors to operate with the lead.

In the second quarter, Chicago found its stride with an extended push. The Sky outscored the Sun by a 16-6 margin over approximately six minutes, taking the lead at 38-36 and imposing their will on defense.

By the halftime break, it was a new game with a 40-40 score, but the Sky seemingly had more juice. Connecticut shot 50 percent and assisted on 15 of 16 field goals in the first half, but the Sun committed ten turnovers, including six in the second quarter alone. Chicago’s offense picked up a bit with the help of transition, and Kahleah Copper scored 14 points before halftime.

The start of the second half was more of the same for Chicago, with the Sky using an 8-2 run to open the third period. Connecticut didn’t score for almost three minutes, and Chicago continued to create effective havoc.

The Sky led by a ten-point margin as the fourth quarter arrived, and Chicago held Connecticut to only eight points in the third quarter. Chicago shot only 7-of-21 from the floor in the period, but the Sky took care of the ball and made a trio of three-pointers, while the Sun committed eight turnovers in the ten-minute period and shot just 3-of-12 from the floor.

Connecticut began to chip away in the closing period, and the team’s biggest push was coming. The Sun scored a whopping 18 consecutive points, turning a nine-point deficit into a nine-point win at the final buzzer. All told, Chicago failed to score for more than four minutes of clock time, and that scoring drought cost the Sky in a season-ending way.

After the way the middle of the game went, the fourth quarter swing was wild in favor of the Sun, and that was reflected on the stat sheet. Broadly, Connecticut outscored Chicago by a 24-5 margin in the ten-minute period, which speaks for itself. Taking things a step further, the Sky shot just 2-of-15 from the floor with four turnovers in the fourth quarter, and Connecticut’s balanced offense (all five starters in double figures) and timely defense keyed the victory. The 18-0 closing run also set a new record for the WNBA Playoffs.

With the Game 5 win, the Sun clinched their fourth all-time berth in the WNBA Finals, though Connecticut will be looking for its first title. The Sun will visit the Las Vegas Aces for Game 1 on Sunday afternoon at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, with the eyes of the basketball world on what should be a fun series.