The Chicago Sky came back in the fourth quarter to defeat the Connecticut Sun 86-83 at home on Sunday and go up 2-1 in the WNBA semifinals.
The Game 3 matchup came down to the wire, with a missed layup and putback from Connecticut in the final 10 seconds making the difference. Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot helped seal the win for the Sky, each making a free throw after being sent to the line in the game’s final seconds.
“We had opportunities to make plays through [Alyssa Thomas], but they did a good job disrupting our initial catch from out of bounds, which put us out of sync with what we were looking for initially,” Sun coach Curt Miller said after the game.
Kahleah Cooper led the charge for Chicago, tying her season-high with 26 points on 64.3 percent shooting from the field. Allie Quigley added 21 points, draining 4-of-7 shots from 3-point range.
KAHLEAH COPPER!! 🥶📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/aXZe5ZlXsd— WNBA (@WNBA) October 3, 2021
KAHLEAH COPPER!! 🥶📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/aXZe5ZlXsd
Parker locked down on defense, helping the Sky hold off Connecticut down the stretch. The forward finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win.
The back-and-forth battle between @Candace_Parker and @jus242 is just FIRE 💯📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/7GgrHW5ZY2— WNBA (@WNBA) October 3, 2021
The back-and-forth battle between @Candace_Parker and @jus242 is just FIRE 💯📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/7GgrHW5ZY2
The Sky held WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones to just 10 points and out-rebounded the Sun 35-30, including 12-7 on the offensive glass.
Next up: Chicago can clinch a spot in the WNBA Finals with a win in Game 4 on Wednesday, which tips off at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. It would be the Sky’s first Finals appearance since 2014.