Ty Harris leads Solar to win over Lynx, serving to Connecticut keep away from WNBA playoff elimination

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Within the Connecticut Solar’s earlier two video games — each losses in opposition to the Minnesota Lynx — Ty Harris performed a mixed 13 minutes, and was held scoreless, seemingly nonetheless not herself since her return from damage. Harris, who has been one in all Connecticut’s key gamers all season, sprained her ankle simply 4 minutes into the WNBA postseason, lacking the next three video games — all wins. Whereas she made her return on Tuesday, in Sport 2 in opposition to Minnesota, she got here off the bench and performed restricted minutes.

After back-to-back losses, the Solar discovered themselves in a 2-1 sequence gap, going through elimination in opposition to the Lynx. Forward of a must-win Sport 4, head coach Stephanie White made it clear that Harris was wanted. She’d be again within the beginning lineup instead of Marina Mabrey — and was anticipated to contribute as she has all yr.

“We want her to be on the market,” White mentioned pregame. “We want her to take pictures for us. We want her to be a shot maker for us. We want her to be a stable defender for us. So she’s bought to be within the rotation.”

Harris responded. The 5’ 10 guard, one in all Connecticut’s prime shooters all yr, exploded for 20 factors — 13 of which got here within the second half. She shot 4-5 from past the arc, liable for half of Connecticut’s 8 complete three-pointers.

“She provides us one other flooring spacer, which opens issues up for AT to assault, opens issues up for Breezy when she’s on the ground, on the block, definitely makes DB and Marina’s life so much simpler as nicely,” White mentioned.

“We all know that when Ty is on the ground and pulling down pictures that now we have nice alternatives to achieve success. I’m grateful that she bounced again right this moment and was excellent.”

In flip, the Solar — who appeared torpid and out of focus in Sport 3 — got here away with a 92-82 win.

Turning issues round required a staff effort. Connecticut trailed by 7 on the half, however responded with an enormous third quarter during which they outscored the Lynx 25-13.

Alyssa Thomas, who shot simply 2-10 within the first half, bounced again with a 14-point second half efficiency to complete the sport with 18 factors on 8/17 taking pictures. Bonner had one in all her greatest performances of the postseason, scoring 18 factors on 8-12 taking pictures. DiJonai Carrington added 15 factors on 6-10 taking pictures, whereas Marina Mabrey added 10 factors off the bench.

Ty Harris addresses a raucous Mohegan Solar crowd after the victory.

“We pressured it to Sport 5, and we’re going to do it there.”

The sequence will return to Minneapolis, the place the Lynx and Solar will face off in a deciding Sport 5. The winner of that recreation will advance to the WNBA finals, which is able to tip off at Barclay’s Heart on Thursday at 8pm ET, since earlier on Sunday, the Liberty defeated the Aces, 76-62, in Sport 4 to cement their spot within the Finals.

An elimination recreation at Goal Heart is certain to be a rowdy surroundings, however the Solar are prepared for the problem.

“They’re nice followers,” Bonner mentioned of the Lynx followers awaiting them in Minneapolis. “They’re championship followers. They’ve received a number of championships, so that they’re hungry for an additional one. It’s going to be loopy, however I believe we’ve been there — thank goodness for the primary two video games — so we all know what it seems like, and we’ll be ready to deal with that.”