Alyssa Thomas' 26 points, 13 boards lead Sun into 2nd round

Sep 16, 2021, 02:47 am

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Alyssa Thomas had 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, DeWanna Bonner added 23 points and 12 boards, and the seventh-seeded Connecticut Sun beat the No. 6 seed Chicago Sky 94-81 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the playoffs.

Connecticut will play either third-seeded Los Angeles or No. 4 seed Minnesota on Thursday in another single-elimination round.

Thomas beat the halftime buzzer with a hook shot in the lane to tie it at 41, and Connecticut started the second half on a 13-2 run with six points from Jasmine Thomas. Chicago was outscored 27-11 in the game-changing quarter.

Brionna Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for Connecticut, which overcome a franchise-worst 0-5 start to the season. The Sun had a 40-21 advantage on the glass.

Allie Quigley scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Kahleah Copper added 17 points and Gabby Williams had 16 for Chicago. Courtney Vandersloot had 12 points and six assists.

It was a memorable season for Vandersloot, who became the first player in WNBA history to average 10 assists per game after totaling 220 in the shortened 22-game regular season.