Monday 30 September 2019 11:49, UK
League MVP Elena Delle Donne scored 22 points and Ariel Atkins had 21 to lead the Washington Mystics to a 95-86 win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday.
Kristi Toliver added 18 points for the Mystics, who had the best record in the regular season. It is the first finals win in franchise history for the Mystics, who were swept last year by the Seattle Storm in their only other appearance in the championship round.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series takes place in the early hours of Wednesday morning (1am UK time) in Washington, live on Sky Sports Arena.
The Mystics were ahead by nine points at half-time and extended the lead to 17 in the third quarter before Connecticut rallied to within four twice in the final period.
Delle Donne answered each time for Washington with a basket. Her jumper with 4:56 left made it 82-76 and started a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Atkins followed with a three-pointer that made it a nine-point game and then corralled an offensive rebound that Toliver finished off with a finger roll down the lane with 3:16 left.
The Sun could only get within eight the rest of the way.
Courtney Williams scored 26 points and Alyssa Thomas added 20 to lead Connecticut, who are playing the finals for the first time since 2005.
After a tight first six minutes, Mystics coach Mike Thibault inserted Emma Meesseman into the line-up playing all three of Washington's bigs together.
It was a line-up that Connecticut didn't see during the three regular-season meetings. Delle Donne missed the first game because of knee pain. Meesseman missed the other two games because she was with the Belgium national team
The pair, along with Latoya Sanders, helped Washington go on a 12-0 run to close the quarter and give the Mystics a 30-17 lead.
The Mystics were up 55-46 at the half.
Washington hit their first 13 free throws before Meesseman missed one in the third quarter. The team, who shot 87.5 per cent from the line during the regular season, finished 17-for-21.
Watch Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, Connecticut Sun @ Washington Mystics, live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Wednesday morning (1am)
