With the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty playing in opposite semifinal series, the buzz around a possible battle of the superteams in the WNBA Finals reached a fever pitch. But the Connecticut Sun silenced the noise, at least for a little while, with a 78-63 win Sunday against the Liberty.
New York struggled to score in Game 1 of the series, which head coach Sandy Brondello called “the worst game of the season.” The No. 2 seed Liberty shot 34% from the field in the loss on their home court at Barclays Center.
“They are such an offensive juggernaut, we had to make things as difficult as possible and I think our team took ownership of that today,” Sun head coach Stephanie White said.
DeWanna Bonner led the No. 3 seed Sun with 20 points, and four Connecticut players finished with seven rebounds, including Bonner and MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas. Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 19 points. While the Sun lost all four meetings with the Liberty in the regular season, that didn’t matter Sunday.
The best-of-five series continues with Game 2 at the Barclays Center, which is set to tip off at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Put those seafoam brooms away and get ready for a SERIES. #SunWin #WNBAPlayoffs #CTSun 78 // #LightItUpNYL 63 pic.twitter.com/S3lo6PapLn— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) September 24, 2023
Put those seafoam brooms away and get ready for a SERIES. #SunWin #WNBAPlayoffs #CTSun 78 // #LightItUpNYL 63 pic.twitter.com/S3lo6PapLn
She ain’t new here. pic.twitter.com/NZerH5Rk4D— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) September 24, 2023
She ain’t new here. pic.twitter.com/NZerH5Rk4D