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Sales, Sun outlast Fever in three overtimes

Aug 24, 2007 - 3:09 AM UNCASVILLE, Connecticut (Ticker) -- Surviving a record-setting distance, Nykesha Sales and the Connecticut Sun finally came out on top.

Sales scored 25 points and Asjha Jones added 20 and 10 rebounds as the Sun pulled out a 93-88 triple-overtime victory over the Indiana Fever in Game One of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday.

Katie Douglas had 14 points, eight rebounds and a WNBA playoff-record eight steals for Connecticut, which improved to 5-0 this season against Indiana by winning the first triple-overtime postseason game in league history.

Lindsay Whalen scored 13 points, including 10 in the extra sessions, and handed out 10 assists for the Sun, who led for most of the game until Anna DeForge drilled a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation to forge a 66-66 tie.

Sales, who posted her career high of 32 points against the Fever during the regular season, shot 8-of-17 from the floor and was key for the Sun in the final OT.

After Tamika Whitmore made a layup with 2:44 left to give Indiana an 88-83 lead, Sales made two free throws with 2:08 remaining to cut Connecticut's deficit to three. Whalen made a coast-to-coast layup with 1:43 left and Jones fed Katie Rasmussen for a another with 59 seconds left to give the Sun an 89-88 advantage.

Following a turnover against Whitmore, Sales nailed a fallaway baseline jumper with one second left on the shot clock to extend the lead to three. Douglas made two shots from the line with three ticks left for the Sun, who ended the game with a 10-0 run.

Connecticut shot just 37 percent (35-of-95), while Indiana connected on only 39 percent (34-of-88) for the game. The teams combined to score a league playoff-low 19 points in the first quarter.

DeForge tied her career high with 31 points and Whitmore added 24 and 14 rebounds for the Fever, who host Game Two on Saturday.

Tamika Catchings, who had not played since July 20 due a left foot injury, had 14 points, a franchise-high 20 rebounds and seven assists in 47 minutes for Indiana, which is 0-3 all time in playoff competition vs. Connecticut and 9-22 overall vs. the Sun.