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By Cassandra Cousineau and Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Don’t schedule that Aces’ WNBA championship parade down the Strip quite yet.
The Las Vegas Aces, looking to close the deal at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut tonight, ran into a determined Sun squad that closed the first quarter with a 17-2 run and then pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 105-76 win to close the Finals Best-of-5 series to two games to one.
The Sun are 4-0 in elimination games this playoff season.
“They kicked our ass in every way possible,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the game. “This game was about physicality and mental toughness and they smoked us on it.”
Sun forward Alyssa Thomas delivered the first Triple-Double in WNBA Finals history with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists before the crowd of 8,745.
Last year’s WNBA MVP, Jonquel Jones, also came to play with 20 points.
“I don’t know why people forget but she’s an MVP … and she played like that,” said the Aces’ A’ja Wilson, this year’s WNBA MVP.
And an X-factor, DeWanna Bonner, scored 18 points after struggling in the first two Sun losses on two for 18 shooting in Games 1 and 2 in Las Vegas.
Thomas impressed Hammon: “I went to a UFC fight the other night. I would not want to be in the cage with her. She’s tough.”
There would be no title celebration for Las Vegas tonight as the Aces were outscored, 28-7, in the final quarter after the Aces had sliced the Sun’s big deficit to only six points late in the third quarter.
The big matchup: the six-foot, three-inch Bonner used her height and length to harass red-hot shooting Chelsea Gray, limiting the Aces’ offensive weapon to only 11 points while asserting herself on the offensive end.
The Aces broke out to a 9-2 lead in the first quarter. Then after a 17-17 ties, the Sun exploded to a 34-19 lead after one quarter.
“I thought the first five minutes set the tone for the entire game,” Hammon said.
The Sun extended their lead to 23 points in the second quarter.
But the Aces began shaving their deficit.
The Connecticut lead was down to 53-42 at the half.
And then the Aces trailed, 77-69, after three quarters.
But the Sun exploded in the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 18 points midway through the final stanza before Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon raised the white flag with more than four minutes left by pulling her starters off the court.
“We have to be more locked in on the defensive side more than anything,” Wilson said.
“The word right now is believe.” Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller said after the game.
The Aces’ Jackie Young has 22 points, including nailing her first three three-point shots, and league MVP A’ja Wilson added 19. Kelsey Plum had 17 points.
Game 4 is set for Sunday at Mohegan Sun. If Connecticut wins Sunday to ties the series at two games apiece, Game 5 will be in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Tuesday.
“We’re not gonna go away,” Miller said. “We’re gonna force Vegas to beat us.”