UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Connecticut Sun faced elimination against the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night, but came away with a 92-82 win to stay alive and force a Game 5 in the conference semifinals.
Connecticut Sun star reveals key to her big performance against the Minnesota Lynx
DeWanna Bonner scored 18 points to help the Sun stay alive in a must-win game against the Lynx — and attributed her play to the presence of her 7-year-old daughter in the stands.
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
DeWanna Bonner was key to the victory. The 37-year-old recorded 18 points on 8-12 shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block. 13 of the points came in a decisive second half in which the Sun outscored the Lynx by 17 points.
After the game, Bonner said that having her daughter in the stands was key to the victory. Bonner has two 7-year-old twin daughters, Cali and Demi, and they don’t typically attend games.
“My baby girl was in the stands for the first time, she kind of took my mind off, calmed me down a little bit, because you can get high stress in these situations,” Bonner said. “Having her around is pretty special.”
Through six playoff games, Bonner is averaging 16.3 points on 41% shooting, including 36.7% from three. She’s also posting 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2 steals.
Bonner wasn’t solely responsible for the Game 4 win — Tyasha Harris came up huge with 20 points in her first meaningful performance since suffering an ankle sprain, while Thomas — Bonner’s fiance — posted 18 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds.
“I feel like that’s typical AT right like, she’s a stat stuffer,” said Sun head coach Stephanie White. “She steps up in big moments. We put the ball in her hands a lot in the fourth quarter to orchestrate our offense, and she made plays for herself and for others, and that’s what she does. We asked her to do a lot for us on both ends of the floor.”
The Sun had a poor showing in Game 3 — falling 90-81 to drop to 2-1 for the series — spurring Thomas to call out her team’s performance at the podium. Their 90 points allowed in Game 3 was more than 16 points higher than their season average, and the Lynx’s 57.4% shooting percentage was the highest the Sun have let up in franchise postseason history.
After that one, Thomas implored her team to fight in order to extend their season.
“If you want your season to continue, you want to make it to the Finals, you got to give it everything you got,” Thomas said. “That’s what the playoffs are all about.”
In Game 4, the Sun came out a different team, holding the Lynx to just 32 second-half points. They racked up 9 steals — Bonner led the way with 4 — just two days after finishing with just 3 steals as a team.
“Backs against the wall — we got a win, gave it everything I had,” Bonner said.
The series will now go back to Minneapolis for a do-or-die Game 5 for both teams.
“I don’t think anybody in that locker room is ready to kind of go their separate ways,” Bonner said. “We enjoy being around each other. We’ve been around each other for a long time.”
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