Becky Hammon’s Las Vegas Aces have been waiting to hear their opponent in the WNBA Finals. It will finally be the Connecticut Sun, who went to snatch Game 5 of their semi-final (72-63) in the lair of Chicago Sky, yet defending champion and who will therefore not do the double.
Candace Parker (7 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks) and her Chicago teammates had started badly, finding themselves trailing by 9 points (13-22) in the first quarter, but then they seemed to have got their hands on the game , thanks in particular to Kahleah Cooper’s 22 points but above all to their defensive impact.
Still at +11 (61-50) 7 minutes from the end, at home, the defending champions had a boulevard.
Except that everything came to a standstill for Chicago, which experienced a huge period of offensive dearth, at the worst time of the season. A basket with the fault of DeWanna Bonner, followed by some invectives with Kahleah Copper, fed the change of “momentum”, with an 18-0 which ended up tilting the meeting in favor of Connecticut.
“Maybe we stopped attacking and were afraid of losing, instead of trying to win”, explained Courtney Vandersloot on the reasons for this rather crazy collapse of Chicago. “It’s probably one of my biggest professional disappointments. The players, they gave everything this year and they did everything they could. I think they deserved more… I feel like I could have done better to get them a basket, and I couldn’t manage to give them a single one” completed James Wade, the trainer.
On the Connecticut Sun side, which was able to count on the complete performance of its five majors (15 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists for DeWanna Bonner; 12 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists for Alyssa Thomas; 15 points, 10 rebounds for Jonquel Jones; 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists for Courtney Williams; 14 points, 4 assists for Natisha Hiedeman), the sentiment was obviously totally reversed.
Plagued by glitches and injuries in recent seasons, Curt Miller’s group has shown its character.
“I know people wanted to put a label on this band: ‘When it’s easy, Connecticut is really special. But when it’s tough, can Connecticut win?’ Tonight we won in the hard way” appreciated the technician. “We had our backs against the wall. There were a few moments when we could have let go, but they refused to give in. They had guts and determination, and that’s what we’re built on. “
Now it’s time for the final, with Game 1 to be played in Las Vegas on Sunday evening.
