Alyssa Thomas and the Connecticut Sun kissed Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever’s playoff run goodbye.
Thomas continued her stellar play this postseason and the Sun rode a lean finishing kick to send Clark and the Fever packing, 87-81, to advance into their sixth straight WNBA semifinals.
ADVANCED ??
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
The @connecticutsun are returning to the Semi-Finals after defeating the Indiana Fever 87-81 in Game 2 of the Best of 3 opening round#WelcometotheW | #WNBAPlayoffs presented by @Google pic.twitter.com/jrCrAfk3WV
The 32-year-old point forward put on a show anew, finishing with a double-double of 19 points and 13 assists on top of five rebounds. The no. 3 Sun completed a quarterfinal sweep of the no. 6 Fever.
Alyssa Thomas was in a DIFFERENT mode as the Connecticut Sun defeated the Fever to head back to the Semi-Finals ??
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
19 PTS
5 REB
13 AST
1 STL
9-17 FG#WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google pic.twitter.com/zbJKjzYW6k
Connecticut squandered an 11-point lead in the fourth when Clark gave Indiana a 71-70 lead off her booming triple with under four minutes left to play.
CAITLIN. CLARK. 🤯
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
The Indiana Fever regain the lead for the first time since the 1Q on ESPN#WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google pic.twitter.com/wUcMDF9Rva
But the Sun outscored the Fever, 17-10, the rest of the way with DeWanna Bonner and Marina Mabrey hitting clutch shots down the stretch.
After an Aliyah Boston lay, Bonner connected beyond the arc from the right corner to hand back the lead to the Sun, 78-77, with 1:50 ticks left.
DeWanna Bonner has an answer for EVERY SINGLE BUCKET the Fever are making in the 4Q 😤#WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google pic.twitter.com/zrddcRFkbJ
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
Marbey then pulled one down from downtown for a 81-77 Connecticut advantage with 46 seconds remaining.
HUGE BUCKET MARINA MABREY 🚨#WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google pic.twitter.com/SIu0aFYiFY
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
From that point on, DiJonai Carrington--who received the Most Improved Player award earlier--and Donner iced the game with clutch free throws to seal the win.
SIX STRAIGHT SEMI-FINALS FOR THE SUN 🙌
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2024
The Connecticut Sun defeat the Indiana Fever 87-81 in Round 1, Game 2 of the #WNBAPlayoffs presented by @google behind big time performances from Alyssa Thomas and Marina Mabrey!
The Sun look to take on the winner of the MIN/PHX series pic.twitter.com/blhs8ziPnQ
Meanwhile, Clark had her best playoff game to date with a team-high 25 points, along with six rebounds and nine assists, to become the second WNBA rookie after Maya Moore to record a 25-5-5 statline in a postseason game.
Despite the loss, Caitlin Clark joined Maya Moore as the only rookies to drop 20 PTS, 5 REB and 5 AST in a WNBA playoff game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GtZi0ncKsm
— espnW (@espnW) September 26, 2024
Kelsey Mitchell poured 17 markers while Boston added 16 points and 19 rebounds for the Fever, who made their first playoff appearance since 2016.
