The Sun earned its first winner-take-all victory since 2004, advance to face the defending champion Chicago Sky.
The No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun eased past the short-handed Dallas Wings 73-58 on Wednesday night to advance to the semifinals.
DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points to lead the Sun; Alyssa Thomas added 13 points and eight rebounds.
The score was tied 34-all at the half despite third-seeded Connecticut being outshot, 50%-to-32.4%.
In the second half, a strong defensive effort from the Sun fueled their way to victory, holding Dallas to 24 second-half points and a season-low point total.
“Last game, we had one steal and that’s not our identity at all,” said Thomas, who had two of Connecticut’s 14 steals. “We knew we really had to turn it up on defense and have each other’s back out there. … When we started to get stops, that’s when the game really opened up.”
Jonquel Jones had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Natisha Hiedeman added 11 points for Connecticut.
Bonner was upset with herself after only taking four shots for the Sun in their 89-79 loss in Game 2. The veteran put up a season-high 20 shots from the field on Wednesday night, making seven of them.
“After we lost Game 2, she was ready to play again,” Thomas said of Bonner. “There was no doubt in my mind she was coming out and she was gonna have a monster game and not let anybody stop her.”
The Sun play at the defending champion Chicago Sky on Sunday in a best-of-five series (8pmET, Wintrust Arena, ESPN2).
Chicago swept its four-game series with the Sun during the regular season. It also eliminated them in last season’s semifinals.
The Sky eliminated the Liberty in three games to advance into the semifinal round.
“This group wants to take another step (win an elusive WNBA title),” head coach Curt Miller said, “and there’s not one person that’s going to pick us to beat Chicago. So were going to go with the underdog mentality and give it our best shot.”
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