WNBA Finals: Elena Delle Donne leads Mystics past Sun in Game 1

Washington's Elena Delle Donne, bottom, battles Connecticut's Jonquel Jones for the ball during the first half of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday.

By Associated Press

Sept. 29, 2019 2:19 PM PT

WASHINGTON — Elena Delle Donne scored 22 points and Ariel Atkins had 21 to help the Washington Mystics beat the Connecticut Sun 95-86 on Sunday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

Kristi Toliver added 18 points for the Mystics, who had the best record in the regular season. It’s the first finals win in franchise history for the Mystics, who were swept last year by Seattle in their only other appearance in the championship round. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Tuesday night in Washington.

The Mystics were up nine at the half and extended the lead to 17 in the third quarter before Connecticut rallied within four twice in the final period. Delle Donne — the league’s MVP — 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 3-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, playing the finals for the first time since 2005.

After a tight first 6 minutes Mike Thibault inserted Emma Meesseman into the lineup playing all three of Washington’s bigs together. It was a lineup 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.