The Connecticut Sun beat the Chicago Sky in historic fashion Thursday night to advance to the WNBA Finals.
Before the Sun start their series Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces, Just Women’s Sports dives into the numbers behind Connecticut’s Game 5 victory.
With the 72-63 win, Connecticut became just the third team in WNBA history to oust a team from the playoffs after being swept by that team in the regular season.
The Sky not only beat the Sun in the 2021 WNBA semifinals but also went 4-0 against them in the 2022 regular season.
Chicago scored just five points in the final frame, the fewest in the fourth quarter during a winner-take-all game in WNBA history.
The five points were also the second-fewest in a fourth quarter in any playoff game.
Jonquel Jones and DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 15 points apiece. All five of Connecticut’s starters hit double figures.
The Connecticut Sun went on an 18-0 run to end the game, the longest such run to close out a game in WNBA playoff history.
In total, Connecticut committed 23 turnovers – the most by a team in a WNBA playoff win. Eight of those turnovers happened in the third quarter, which coincidentally matched the number of points the Sun scored in that frame.
The Sun enter the finals as the team with the most playoff victories without a title at 36. This marks their first WNBA Finals appearance since 2019, when they lost to the Washington Mystics in five games.