UNCASVILLE, Conn. ― Championships are not won by any lone individual. It takes a team working together to lock in, on and off the court, to make it to the top.
A well-rounded effort from the entire squad powered the Sun past the Indiana Fever, 87-81 on Wednesday.
All seven Sun players who played in Wednesday’s game scored at least eight points, with five players crossing double-digits. Alyssa Thomas finished with a team-high 19 points and 13 assists.
“It’s playoff time,” Thomas said after the game. “We kind of went through a little drought, (but) this is what I live for, the playoffs is what I’m waiting for all season long.”
Connecticut will return to action on Sunday, Sept. 29 at home for Game 1 of the Sun’s best-of-five series against the Minnesota Lynx in the 2024 WNBA semifinals.
The Fever started strong, with Caitlin Clark pushing the pace and connecting on two three-pointers early to help the Fever get off to a 13-4 run.
The Sun responded fiercely, regaining the lead before the end of the first and carrying the momentum deep into the second. A 22-3 run spanning six and a half minutes had the Sun in front by 10 with 7:30 left in the half.
The Sun remained in front for most of the game, but the Fever refused to go away. Entering the final quarter trailing by nine, the Fever climbed back and briefly reclaimed the lead behind a 12-2 run.
But the Sun did not let the run rattle them and kept their composure down the stretch. DeWanna Bonner and Marina Mabrey hit a pair of clutch shots from beyond the arc to seal the victory and the series.
“There is just no fear (in Mabrey),” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “There’s this fearlessness, this ability to (have) short-term memory… (Mabrey) doesn’t think about the last play, it’s always the next play. She always feels like – and I always feel like – every shot is going in and you have to have players like that.
“(Mabrey is) not afraid of the moment, not afraid to take the big shot, the tough shot, the next shot and that’s something we have desperately needed.”
Before the game, DiJonai Carrington was handed her trophy for winning the 2024 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player award. The WNBA announced on Wednesday afternoon that Carrington had received 28 of the 67 votes to earn the award.
Carrington was surprised and elated to receive this recognition.
“I definitely didn’t think (I would win),” Carrington said. “Not because I didn’t think I deserved it, (but) just because I mean (with) Connecticut, we don’t get the love and the hype that we, I think, deserve and have earned, that’s first.
“Second, I’ve never really won awards before. I’ve never been an All-American, besides academically, which I guess is cool, too. But I’ve never been an All-American (or) Player of the Year for a conference… so it was just something that I don’t get my hopes up for.”
