Uncasville, CT: The No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun (28-12, 1-1) are back home for Game 3 of the WNBA Semifinals against the No. 2 seed Minnesota Lynx (30-10, 1-1) on Friday, October 4 at 7:30 PM ET at Mohegan Sun Arena. The best-of-five series is currently tied, 1-1. The game will air on ESPN2 and stream live on the ESPN app.
Storylines:
Last Time Out:
The Connecticut Sun fell to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 2 of the WNBA Semifinals, 77-70, on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with her fourth double-double of the 2024 postseason, notching 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals. DeWanna Bonner finished 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and a postseason career-high tying five steals. Marina Mabrey logged 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 38 minutes of action. DiJonai Carrington rounded out the Sun’s double-digit scorers with a postseason career-high tying 14 points, four rebounds, one steal and one block on the night. The Sun shot a postseason low 36.4% (24-66) from the field, while the Lynx went 45.2% (28-62) from the floor- the best field goal percentage by a Sun opponent during the postseason thus far.
Climbing the Postseason Record Books:
In Game 2 of the WNBA Semifinals, DeWanna Bonner moved into third all-time in scoring in WNBA postseason history, passing Tamika Catchings. She now has 1,143 points in her playoff career and enters Friday’s game just seven points shy of passing Candace Parker for second all-time. With five steals in Tuesday night’s game, she also moved into third all-time in steals in WNBA postseason history, passing Maya Moore. She now has 99 steals in playoff games in her career. Alyssa Thomas and Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray are currently tied for fifth all-time in WNBA postseason history and both enter their respective Game 3s seven assists from fourth all-time.
Postseason Stat Leaders:
Out of the four remaining teams in the playoff race, the Sun as a team leads the WNBA this postseason in rebounds per game (34.0), assists per game (23.0) and offensive rebounds per game (9.3). The Sun’s defense is also holding playoff opponents to a league low 74.3 points per game. Alyssa Thomas is currently leading the league in assists per game during the postseason at 10.5 assists per contest and fourth in rebounds per game (8.8).
Opponent History:
Connecticut is 32-27 all-time against Minnesota during the regular season and 3-2 record during postseason play. The two teams first and only playoff matchup prior to 2024 came a season ago when the Sun defeated the Lynx, 2-1, in the First Round of the 2023 WNBA Playoffs. Head Coach Cheryl Reeve is in her 15th season with Minnesota and is currently first all-time in WNBA history in postseason wins with a 45-24 all-time playoff record.