Harris returns to lead Sun past Lynx 92-82 in Game 4 of WNBA semis

Oct. 6—MOHEGAN — Ty Harris, the Connecticut Sun point guard, hadn’t scored a point since the team’s regular-season finale against the Chicago Sky on Sept. 19, later hobbled by a right ankle injury she suffered in Connecticut’s playoff opener.

On Sunday, with the Sun facing elimination in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs, Harris returned to the starting lineup.

And she finished with a team-high 20 points in third-seeded Connecticut’s 92-82 victory over No. 2 Minnesota in Game 4 before a raucous crowd of 7,849 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

“I think it was probably about midnight last night when we made the decision,” Sun head coach Stephanie White said of the choice to go with Harris as a starter. “We talked about a lot of different lineups pretty much all day yesterday.

“It’s never easy. You just kick around a lot of different ideas. But I felt like with Ty specifically, we knew we needed to get her more minutes. It’s not easy to be in a position coming back from injury, coming off the bench where you’re cold and you’ve got to get started again.

“So it wasn’t really giving her the best opportunity for success.”

Harris was injured three minutes into Game 1 of the Sun’s first-round playoff series against Indiana on Sept. 22 and missed the next two games. She came off the bench in Game 2 (6 minutes) and Game 3 (5 minutes) against the Lynx, but didn’t score.

This time, she played 30 minutes, going 7-for-11 from the floor, 4-for-5 from 3-point range, including a pair of 3s in the fourth quarter, the second of which gave Connecticut a commanding 82-69 lead.

“Just preparation, putting in the extra work every day regardless of what the outcome is,” said Harris, who eclipsed her previous playoff high. “My teammates, they instill confidence in me every day, my coach … they be on me. So whenever my number is called, just out there ready to do my thing.”

A deciding Game 5 will move to Minnesota beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN2), with the winner going on to face the New York Liberty in the WNBA Finals beginning Thursday in New York. The Liberty unseated the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, winning Game 4 Sunday 76-62 to take the series 3-1.

Against the Lynx, Alyssa Thomas added 18 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists for the Sun, DeWanna Bonner had 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals and DiJonai Carrington had 15 points.

Former UConn star Napheesa Collier finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which had won two straight in the series.

Carrington pulled the Sun within 47-43 with 4 seconds remaining in the second quarter after stealing the ball from Minnesota’s Natisha Hiedeman, but Hiedeman exacted revenge on the final play of the quarter, hitting a 3 at the buzzer to put Minnesota in front 50-43.

Carrington had 11 points in the first half.

Collier had 14 in the half for the Lynx and Hiedeman, who was traded from Connecticut to Minnesota in the offseason, had 12 on 5 of 8 shooting. Minnesota finished the half with nine 3-point field goals.

In the third quarter, the Lynx led by four on a jump shot by Courtney Williams to make it 57-53, but Thomas scored on an assist from Bonner and Thomas then hit Bonner on the fast break to tie things at 57-all, igniting the crowd and forcing a Minnesota timeout.

The score was tied at 61-61 on a jump shot by Minnesota’s Williams before Bonner tipped in a lob pass by Carrington and Marina Mabrey found herself wide open for a 3-pointer on the break to put the Sun ahead 66-61.

Connecticut led 68-63 after three, getting a spinning bank shot by Thomas with 1.2 seconds remaining.

The Sun outscored the Lynx 6-2 to start the fourth quarter, with Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve calling a timeout after a layup from Bonner assisted by Thomas pushed the Connecticut lead to 74-65.

A 3 from Harris pushed the Sun’s edge to double digits at 77-67 and Harris hit another to make it 82-69.

The Sun split the first two games of the series with the Lynx in Minnesota before returning home for Game 3 on Friday. The Lynx took a 2-1 lead in the series with a 90-81 victory behind 26 points and 11 rebounds from Collier.

Connecticut was disappointed in its effort in the home loss — “They got to do pretty much whatever they wanted to on the offensive end of the floor,” White said — which put them on the brink of elimination.

“We bounced back,” White said Sunday. “Our back was against the wall. I thought our second-half effort defensively was outstanding and that’s what it’s got to be all the time.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com