Emma Meesseman buried a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to put Chicago up by three and carry the Sky to a thrilling 94-91 victory over the visiting Connecticut Sun on Sunday afternoon.
Meesseman finished with 15 points, and the Sky survived a frantic finish to win its franchise-record 25th game of the year and complete a four-game season series sweep of the Sun, who nearly won after trailing by 17 after one quarter.
Courtney Vandersloot was particularly huge for Chicago (25-8), drilling three clutch 3-pointers in the fourth and scoring 20 points in all.
Candace Parker scored 18 points and also blocked the 600th shot of her career while Allie Quigley chipped in 15 points, including a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds left that put the Sky on top 94-91. Kahleah Copper added 11 points.
For the Sun (22-11), it was the fourth time this season they have been close but just not able to hold on despite having six players in double figures in scoring. Connecticut has lost all four games to the Sky by single digits.
DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 18 points but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime. Jonquel Jones scored 17 and Alyssa Thomas added 16.
Playing on a seven-day contract, Odyssey Sims scored 13 points and Brionna Jones finished with 10 for the Sun.
The Sun were looking for their first win over the Sky since Sept. 30, 2021, when they won the second game of a semifinal playoff series against Chicago. But they dropped the final two games of that series, making Sunday’s heartbreaker their sixth straight loss overall to the Sky.
Quigley opened the game with a 3-pointer and Azura Stevens and Meesseman both hit 3-pointers in the final minute as the Sky rolled in front 31-14 after one.
Meesseman connected on her second 3-pointer of the day at the 8:45 mark of the second, extending the Sky lead to 36-19. Chicago led 40-23 with 7:31 left in the half after Quigley hit a jumper in the lane.
But the Sun weren’t rattled and chipped away at the deficit while limiting Chicago to three field goals the remainder of the half. The Sky led 50-46 at halftime despite the Sun shooting 66.7 percent from the field in the second quarter.
Connecticut was within 69-67 heading into the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media
