GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• The Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky in Game 5 of the WNBA Semifinals. The Sun return to the franchise’s fourth WNBA Final series, looking for their first championship.
• DeWanna Bonner and Jonquel Jones led Connecticut with 15 points each in the win.
• Kahleah Copper finished with 22 points, two rebounds, two assists, four steals and one block.
• With eight rebounds in tonight’s contest, Alyssa Thomas is now the all-time post season rebounder in Connecticut Sun history. She has 243 rebounds in 29 playoff contests.
• With 15 points in the game, Bonner moved past Lisa Leslie into sixth all-time in post-season scoring in WNBA history.
• The Sun led the Sky, 16-12, heading into the first media timeout of the contest. Natisha Hiedeman had eight points and two assists to lead Connecticut with 4:12 left in the quarter.
• Connecticut held an eight-point advantage over Chicago, 24-16, after the first quarter of action.
• Hiedeman had eight points and two assists to lead the Sun. Jones added six points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block for Connecticut in the first.
• The Sun shot 53.3% (8-15) from the field, while holding the Sky to 35.7% (5-14) through ten minutes of play.
• The Sky opened the second quarter on an 11-6 run to cut the Sun’s lead to three, 30-27, with 6:13 remaining in the half. Courtney Williams had four of Connecticut’s six points to open the quarter.
• The game was tied at 40 at the halftime break. Chicago outscored Connecticut, 24-16, in the second quarter of action.
• Hiedeman has 10 points, one rebound and two assists to lead the Sun after twenty minutes of play. Copper finished the first half with 14 points, one rebound and two steals to lead the Sky.
• Connecticut shot 16-32 (50%) from the floor, while Chicago was 15-34 (44.1%) from the field through the first half.
• The Sky opened the second half on a 5-0 run, taking a 45-40 lead and forcing the Sun to call a timeout with 7:27 remaining in the quarter. The Sun turned it over three times in that opening stretch.
• Chicago outscored Connecticut by 10 in the third quarter, 18-8, to take a 58-48 lead into the fourth. Only in the Sun’s first round loss to Dallas on August 21, did they score fewer in a quarter (seven points in the first quarter).
• The Sun committed eight of their post-season high 23 turnovers in the third quarter.
• Chicago led Connecticut, 61-54, with 5:54 remaining in the game. Thomas, Jones and Hiedeman each had buckets to open the fourth.
• The Sun were able to cut the Sky’s lead to four, 63-59, with 2:45 to go in the contest. After that mark, Connecticut finished the game on an 13-0 run, to take home the 72-63 victory in Game 5 of the Semifinals.
• Connecticut held Chicago to just five points in the fourth quarter, outscoring them by 19, 24-5.
• Natisha Hiedeman finished with 14 points, three rebounds, four assists and one block in the win.

NEXT GAME

The Connecticut Sun head out to Las Vegas to take on the Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday, September 11 at 3PM ET at Michelob Ultra Arena. The Sun went 1-2 against the Aces in the 2022 regular season. This will be Connecticut’s fourth WNBA Finals series (2004, 2005, 2019), while Las Vegas will make their third appearance as a franchise (2020, San Antonio- 2008).