Connecticut Sun overcome Chicago Sky 83-75 on the road behind 20 points from Alyssa Thomas

The Connecticut Sun survived a second road battle against the Chicago Sky with an 83-75 victory at Wintrust Arena on Wednesday, completing WNBA Commissioner’s Cup play with a 4-1 record.

Superstar forward Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 20 points, seven rebounds, a season-high six steals and four assists. Brionna Jones was also productive offensively with 18 points shooting 7-for-12, and four of Connecticut’s five starters finished with at least 12 points in the balanced attack. The team combined for 21 assists on 28 made field goals.

The Sun ran out to an eight-point lead over the first five minutes of the game, and Thomas was from dominant from the tip with six points, four rebounds and two assists in the first quarter. Jones also saw early success against a young Chicago frontcourt with four quick points, though the Sky forwards were still productive led by six first-quarter points from rookie Angel Reese.

However, Chicago went to its bench after a timeout in the first quarter, and the reserves put Connecticut on its heels. Guard Chennedy Carter scored six points in her first two minutes on the court, fueling a 14-4 run for the Sky that gave them a 22-20 advantage at the end of the quarter. The Sun scored just four points in the five minutes after the timeout despite entering it ahead 16-8.

Connecticut got back in front of Chicago quickly in the second quarter as Jones found her rhythm. She had 14 points — more than her season average — at halftime on 5-for-8 shooting. But as Jones established herself offensively, so did Chicago rookie Kamilla Cardoso in her second career start. Cardoso was scoreless in the first quarter but logged eight points in the second, and she also led the Sky in rebounds in the first half with four.

“It’s just a tough matchup, because all you have to do is throw it up and she goes and gets it,” White said. “I thought Breezy did a good job being physical with her, but any time she had to get engaged off the ball it just opened her up for a lob. I thought Olivia Nelson-Ododa did a really good job as well. Liv’s length and her improvement in ability to stay vertical and contest shots … and her level of physicality was really good, so you just have to continue to mix it up.”

An ugly performance from 3-point range nearly doomed the Sun as Chicago shot 46.2% from beyond the arc. Connecticut started 0-for-6 from outside and finished 3-for-14, but Tyasha Harris hit the team’s first of the game in a critical moment to open the third. She added a second with two minutes left in the quarter after Chicago got back within two points. Harris also anchored the offense as a facilitator with a team-high seven assists, making the pass that led to the only 3-pointer she didn’t make, from DiJonai Carrington.

“They decided to put a guard on me most of the night, so that made it easy for Ty to get in the pocket and facilitate for us,” said Thomas, who leads the Sun in assists. “It feels good when you have two people able to create, and we just play well off of each other. Tonight was her night to go after it.”

The Sun began to pull away in the fourth quarter, opening on a 10-3 run that included three consecutive turnovers by the Sky. Connecticut scored 14 points off 18 Sky turnovers, fueled by a season-high six steals by Thomas.

Reese led Chicago with a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, and she scored four points in the final two minutes of the game to cut into Connecticut’s lead. Diamond DeShields added a 3-pointer for the Sky with under 30 seconds remaining that made it a four-point game, but DeWanna Bonner hit a pair of free throws to secure the margin of victory. She was 8-for-9 at the free throw line despite a difficult shooting night, going 0-for-7 from 3-point range and 4-for-16 from the field.

“I think we had good looks, but they just weren’t going down tonight,” Jones said. “It happens, but we found a way to get done from the free throw line, continued to attack the basket and find other ways to score. When shots aren’t falling we do have other ways we can score and put points on the board, but we’re not worried about it. The shots are gonna fall eventually.”