By DJ Harding
The Connecticut Sun faced off against the New York Liberty for game two of their five game semi-finals series. The Sun won game one 78-63 to take a 1-0 series lead going into tonight.
The Liberty bounced back, evening the series behind the trio of Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney, and Courtney Vandersloot. Ionescu led the Liberty in scoring with 21 points and Vandersloot contributed 19 points to the win.
Laney came up big for the Liberty with 20 points on the night with nine points coming in the fourth quarter. Laney hit five three pointers with two of them coming down the stretch in the fourth.
DeWanna Bonner commented on Laney’s performance saying “We knew Betnijah was key to their offense but I’m super proud of my team because when they made a run we responded.”
Bonner was the second highest scorer for the Sun with 19 points while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Tiffany Hayes led all scorers and the Sun especially scoring 30 points hitting five three pointers in the loss. Hayes postgame spoke on her 30 point outburst saying “I just try to come out every night and do my best, and tonight I was feeling it.”
Alyssa Thomas was the third highest Sun scorer and the only other Sun player besides Bonner and Hayes to reach double figures with 10 points while also dishing out nine assists and grabbing eight rebounds.
Thomas before gametime found out she came second in the WNBA MVP voting behind her opponent Breanna Stewart. Stewart posted a double-double in the win with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Stewart’s teammate Jonquel Jones also posted a double-double scoring 11 points and snatching 13 rebounds.
Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White spoke on the team’s performance in the loss stating “ We gave them a fight and we got a little stagnant. We didn’t get the looks we wanted and obviously New York came out swinging. We expected a long series and we have to just bounce back.”
When asked about bouncing back and keeping your composure in the playoffs DeWanna Bonner commented “You gotta stay even keeled, can’t get too high and can’t get too low.”
The Sun will get the chance to close out the series at home as the series heads back to Connecticut for game three and four of the five game series.
Game three will tip-off at 7:30PM EST on Friday September 27.