Whalen leads Sun to victory

Lindsay Whalen matched her career-high with 21 points and the Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics 80-70 Monday night in Uncasville, Conn., to even the best-of-three WNBA Eastern Conference semifinal.

The deciding third game will be Wednesday night at Connecticut.

Whalen was 15-of-16 from the free throw line, while the Sun were 30-of-32, the third best mark in league playoff history.

Nykesha Sales added 13 points for the Sun and set a WNBA playoff record with a career-best seven steals. Connecticut scored 21 points on 17 Washington turnovers.

The Mystics came in on a roll, having won six of their last seven games including an eight-point win over the Sun on Saturday. Much of their success has come without star Chamique Holdsclaw, who left the team for undisclosed medical issues.

Rookie Alana Beard figured prominently in the turnaround, but on Monday Connecticut's defense neutralized her for much of the game. Beard finished with 15 points, scoring six in the final 2 minutes when the Sun had the game in hand. She also had three blocked shots.

Connecticut's Wendy Palmer-Daniel, who shared the WNBA's Most Improved Player of the Year award Monday with Indiana's Kelly Miller, added 12 points.

Tamicha Jackson led the Mystics with 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

The Sun hit seven of their first nine shots in under 5 minutes to take a 19-3 lead. All five starters scored in that spurt, then pressured Washington into six turnovers in the early minutes.

Sales played solid defense for the Sun in the first half, finishing with five rebounds, all on the defensive end, and five steals.

The Washington bench helped the Mystics chip away and get within six points with under 7 minutes to play. Jackson had 10 points, including two 3-pointers, in the half.

Reserve forward Asjha Jones scored eight of her 10 first-half points in the closing minutes and the Sun took a 42-34 lead.

The Sun led by as many as 20 points midway through the second half. Debbie Black hit her first 3-pointer of the season as the shot clock expired to give the Sun a 63-43 lead with 11:48 remaining.

The Mystics cut the deficit to nine on a 3 by Stacey Dales-Schuman with 2:26 left, but the Sun made 11 of 12 free throws to seal the win.