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    Saturday, May 11, 2024

    Sun fall to the Sky in Chicago

    Chicago Sky forward Emma Meesseman (33) looks to the basket under pressure from Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner (24) and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, obscured, in a WNBA game on July 31 at Mohegan Sun Arena. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)
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    Chicago — Candace Parker scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and tipped a pass to Emma Meesseman for a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to help the Chicago Sky beat the Connecticut Sun 94-91 Sunday to set the franchise record for wins in a season.

    Courtney Vandersloot had 20 points, five assists and four steals for Chicago (25-8), which shot blistering 57 percent from the floor (37 of 65). Meesseman and Allie Quigley added 15 points apiece and Kahleah Copper scored 11.

    The Sky, who ousted Connecticut in the semifinals on the way to winning the 2021 WNBA championship, swept the four-game season series from the Sun (22-11), including a pair of close wins in the past eight days.

    Alyssa Thomas made a driving layup with 4:37 left in the third quarter to give the Sun — who trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half — their first lead at 58-56 and Odyssey Sims capped a 10-0 run with a driving layup that gave Connecticut a 75-69 lead early in the fourth.

    Vandersloot made two 3-pointers as the Sky scored 15 of the next 19 points before DeWanna Bonner converted a four-point play and then found Thomas for a layup to make it 89-all with 43.6 seconds to go but Parker, in the post, tipped a touch-pass out to Meesseman for a wide-open 3-pointer to make it 92-89 with 28.0 seconds remaining and the Sky led the rest of the way.

    Bonner, who scored eight points and had three assists in the final 2:41, missed a deep potential winning 3 at the buzzer. She finished with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and six assists.

    Jonquel Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Connecticut and Thomas added 16 points and eight boards. Sims scored 13 points in just her second game since joinining the team last week, Courtney Williams had 12 and Brionna Jones added 10.

    Connecticut was missing head coach Curt Miller who was spending time with his family after his mom Bev died earlier this week.

    It was the first of three three road games for the Sun, who visit the Los Angles Sparks on Tuesday and Thursday before closing out the regular season at home next Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx.

    Despite Sunday’s loss, Connecticut still has a chance to finish with a top three seed for the upcoming WNBA playoffs, which has a new format this season with all eight qualifiers involved in a best-of-three quarterfinal series.

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