Your Bonner: Sun Rises Over Liberty in WNBA Semifinal Opener

BROOKLYN-The Sun broke through overcast skies in New York City on Sunday. Alas for the New York Liberty, the brightness was limited to within the walls of Barclays Center

New York's return to WNBA semifinal action opened on a sour note against the Connecticut Sun, as the Liberty dropped Game 1 of a best-of-five battle for a ticket to the Finals by a 78-63 final.

Sent over from Connecticut in a three-team trade this offseason, Jonquel Jones led the Liberty with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Sunday marked the first time the Liberty lost a game when Jones registered a triple-double.

Rebounding was the name of the game for Connecticut, which had dropped all four meetings to New York in the regular season. Four different New Englanders had at least five rebounds, the effort paced by respective breakouts for DeWanna Bonner and Bec Allen.

With MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas held in relative check (4-of-11 from the field, losing three turnovers), her fiancée DeWanna Bonner had her back to the tune of a team-best 20 points. Right behind her was the former New Yorker Allen, who did a little bit of everything in the Connecticut box score with 18 points (7-of-9 from the field), tying Bonner with seven boards, while picking up two blocks and steals each. Allen had been the longest-tenured player on the Liberty before she was included in the trade for Jones.

A Connecticut crackdown on defense paved the way to victory: the Liberty had taken a slim halftime lead at 40-37 but mustered a mere 23 points over the final 20 minutes. New York doubled its three-point output from the first-round clincher over Washington, where it had a season-low four, but needed 27 tries to get there. That ledger included eight futile attempts for Breanna Stewart, who led the Liberty with 19 points.

DB had herself a game 😤

DeWanna Bonner went off vs. the New York Liberty to secure the Semi-Finals Game 1 victory:

20 PTS
7 REB
3 AST
3 BLK

2023 #WNBAPlayoffs | @google pic.twitter.com/XlkPcDit9b
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 24, 2023

Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Betnijah Laney shot a combined 12-of-48 from the field, though Ionescu was 4-of-8 with the extra point on the line, giving her 20 for her Liberty playoff career.

The Liberty will look to get their championship trek back on the right track when the two sides reconvene at Barclays Center for Game 2 on Tuesday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2).