Connecticut
Predicting the WNBA semifinals: A Finals rematch, a lot of chalk and MVPs go head to head
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Michael Voepel
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Katie Barnes
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Katie Barnes
ESPN.com
- Katie Barnes is a writer/reporter for ESPN.com. Follow them on Twitter at Katie_Barnes3.
Surprises in the first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs? Try sweeps. The top four seeds each advanced to what should be two blockbuster semifinal series, which tip off Sunday.
What the first round lacked in drama with four 2-0 sweeps, the semifinals could have in abundance. The No. 1 seed New York Liberty will face the No. 4 Las Vegas Aces (3 p.m. ET, ABC) in a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals. That matchup was set on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun advanced to the WNBA semifinals for the sixth consecutive season by eliminating the Indiana Fever.
Then Napheesa Collier scored a WNBA playoff record-tying 42 points as the No. 2 seed Minnesota Lynx knocked out the Phoenix Mercury in what could be the last game of Mercury legend Diana Taurasi’s career.
Both semifinal matchups are between teams that have won WNBA titles and teams that haven’t. The Aces are the two-time defending champions, while New York is 0-5 in its past attempts playing for the championship.
The Lynx have won four titles — they came during a seven-season stretch when Minnesota made the Finals six times. The Sun have played in the Finals four times, most recently in 2022, but never won.
Four of the top-five finishers in MVP voting will be competing in the semifinals: unanimous winner A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas, second-place finisher Collier, New York’s Breanna Stewart (third) and Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas (fifth).
Let’s look at the matchups for the best-of-five semifinals.
Regular-season series: New York won 3-0
How they got here: New York swept Atlanta in the first round, getting 36 points from Sabrina Ionescu in the clinching win Tuesday. Las Vegas swept Seattle behind big performances from A’ja Wilson (24 points, 13 rebounds), Kelsey Plum (29 points) and Chelsea Gray (9 assists).
How they match up: Wilson vs. Stewart is the marquee matchup. The two superstars have dazzled in the playoffs dating to when Stewart played in Seattle, and they have five MVP awards between them. Wilson has been otherworldly all season, averaging a career-high and WNBA-record 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game during the regular season. Stewart averaged 20.4 PPG and 8.5 RPG. Not every superstar matchup yields opportunities for the team’s top players to guard each other, but Wilson and Stewart will, even if it’s not on every possession.
Outside of Stewart and Wilson, there are intriguing matchups all over the floor. New York went with a bigger lineup against Atlanta, starting rookie Leonie Fiebich in place of veteran Courtney Vandersloot. The lineup gave the Liberty additional size and length on the perimeter. At 6-foot-4, Fiebich is quick enough to stick with Jackie Young or Gray, and her length can disrupt perimeter passing lanes.
The big question for Vegas is who will guard Jonquel Jones and Stewart? Wilson can guard one of them, but she can’t guard both. Aces coach Becky Hammon has said that the fifth spot in the Aces lineup depends on the matchup. Kiah Stokes started both games against Seattle and has the most familiarity with the current Aces lineup, brings enough size to hang with Jones, but is a liability offensively. Other options on the Vegas bench, however, do not exactly solve this issue. Las Vegas definitely has a disadvantage in the frontcourt — outside of Wilson, of course — but can the Aces absorb that disparity and make up for it in the backcourt? The answer to that question might determine the outcome of the series.
The New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces will meet again in the WNBA playoffs 👀 @Andraya_Carter gives her 4 KEYS to victory in the 2023 WNBA Finals rematch 🔑 pic.twitter.com/LwQgrxVelM
— espnW (@espnW) September 25, 2024
What will most impact the series? Jones averaged 19.7 points and 11 rebounds in the Liberty’s three games against the Aces this season, five points and two rebounds above her regular-season totals. In the first regular-season meeting, Jones had 34 points. In the second, she had 17 rebounds. In the third — the one when Wilson didn’t play — Jones had 15 points and 8 boards. If she can string together a few explosive games, it could be the difference. Jones is an MVP too. If she plays like that version of herself, Las Vegas could be in trouble.
New York will advance if: Fiebich and Jones win their respective matchups. New York’s lineup presents unique challenges for Las Vegas. Young, who is an elite defender, cannot guard Ionescu and Fiebich. Plum gives up size to every guard. Gray isn’t 6-foot-4. But someone has to guard Fiebich. In the frontcourt, someone must guard Jones. If the Liberty can execute and leverage those mismatches, New York will be returning to the Finals for another shot at the franchise’s first title.
Las Vegas will advance if: Its backcourt plays at the level it’s capable of on both ends of the floor. Wilson has proved all season that she will show up at an elite level, but the Aces haven’t had consistent guard play. Hammon has referred to Plum, Gray and Young as the Aces’ “separation factors.” When that trio hits shots and successfully pressures on the perimeter, Las Vegas is very difficult to beat. — Katie Barnes
Who will win the series?
Andrea Adelson: Aces in 5
Katie Barnes: Aces in 5
Charlie Creme: Liberty in 4
Sean Hurd: Aces in 5
Myron Medcalf: Aces in 5
Kevin Pelton: Liberty in 5
Alexa Philippou: Liberty in 5
Michael Voepel: Aces in 5
Regular-season series: Connecticut won 2-1
How they got here: The Sun swept No. 6 seed Indiana 2-0 in the first round, led by veterans Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner. Thomas, who had a triple-double in the first game, finished the series with a combined 31 points, 26 assists and 15 rebounds. Bonner had a combined 37 points and 14 rebounds. And Marina Mabrey, obtained via trade in July, had a combined 44 points and 9 assists. The Lynx got No. 7 seed Phoenix’s best effort, but Minnesota — Collier especially — was just too good. She had 38 points in the opener, and light-heartedly chastised herself for missing two free throws in Wednesday’s 101-88 victory.
Admittedly, one more free throw and she would have had the playoff scoring record with 43 points. But she was 14 of 20 from the field and 12 of 14 from the line. “I was just taking what the defense gave me, what my teammates were giving me,” Collier said in a master class of understatement.
How they match up: These were the best two teams in the league in defensive rating during the regular season: the Sun at 94.1 and the Lynx at 94.8. They were also the best at defending the 3-point line: Minnesota held its opponents to 30.1% shooting and Connecticut limited theirs to 31.3%.
All three of the regular-season games were close. Connecticut won the first in overtime 83-82 on May 23. The Sun also won the second 78-73 on July 4. Minnesota got its 78-76 victory on Sept. 17.
Both teams have experienced coaches, too: Cheryl Reeve guided the Lynx to all four of their titles and the Sun’s Stephanie White was an assistant when Indiana won its title in 2012 and head coach when the Fever were last in the WNBA Finals in 2015. Indiana lost to Reeve and the Lynx that year in five games. White left the WNBA after 2016 to coach collegiately at Vanderbilt, but returned last year with the Sun.
What will most impact the series? It might sound simplistic, but which defense will be the best? When both are so good, that is strength vs. strength.
The teams’ offensive rating is also nearly identical: The Lynx were fourth at 102.8 and the Sun fifth at 102.3.
In the first round, Collier proved unguardable, so what plan will the Sun have for her? Collier had 31 points in the first matchup this season with the Sun and 25 in the third. In the second game she was held to 9.
Thomas, 32, and Bonner, 37, are two of the most experienced players in the league when it comes to the playoffs, and they seem to be once again rising to the occasion at the biggest times.
If all three of those players are performing well, who else will step up? Mabrey was terrific in the first-round series for the Sun. Another Notre Dame grad, Kayla McBride, was a strong performer for Minnesota.
Minnesota will advance if: The Lynx are able to move the ball anywhere near as well against Connecticut as they did against Phoenix. Obviously, the Mercury are not as good as the Sun defensively. But it was still impressive how well the Lynx shared the ball in that series: They had 30 assists and 10 turnovers in Game 1 and 28 and 7 in Game 2.
We know both these teams are solid defensively. But Minnesota also led the WNBA in assists during the regular season at 23.0 per game. If the Lynx can attack the Sun with that kind of precision, they will win the series.
Connecticut will advance if: The Sun are able to slow down Collier — we won’t say stop, because that’s not going to happen — and if they beat the Lynx at their own game by limiting them from the 3-point line. The Fever shot 26.7% from 3-point range in Wednesday’s loss to the Sun and 21.4% in Sunday’s loss. That was a big part of why the Fever couldn’t get their offense going as well as they had through the end of the regular season. The Sun defensively make everything hard, and they are as physical as any team in the league.
Who will win the series?
Andrea Adelson: Sun in 5
Katie Barnes: Lynx in 4
Charlie Creme: Lynx in 4
Sean Hurd: Lynx in 5
Myron Medcalf: Lynx in 5
Kevin Pelton: Lynx in 5
Alexa Philippou: Lynx in 5
Michael Voepel: Lynx in 5
Connecticut may become a ghost town if lawmakers fail to address affordability concerns — and the warning signs are becoming harder to ignore.
A new AARP survey of residents aged 45 and older shows deep concern about rising living costs. Respondents cited housing, utilities, and medical care as major financial pressures, fueling broader worries about long-term financial security and the ability to afford retirement in Connecticut.
The numbers are sobering: 72% of respondents say they are concerned about the cost-of-living, up from 66% in 2023; more than half worry about being able to retire in Connecticut; and 33% report difficulty affording healthcare.
Those anxieties are translating into real financial strain. Nearly half say they have tapped into savings to cover rising costs. Forty-two percent have stopped saving for retirement altogether. Thirty-six percent struggle with monthly bills. Thirty percent have difficulty affording food. Thirteen percent report skipping medications due to cost.
These are not marginal concerns. They represent warning signals from a key demographic in one of the nation’s oldest states. Connecticut’s median age is 41.2, the seventh highest in the country. Meanwhile, the 35-to-49 age group declined by 13.1 percent between 2010 and 2022 — more than any other age group.
Older residents are increasingly relocating to states such as North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. The reasons are familiar: lower taxes, lower housing costs, and lower energy bills.
Despite a relatively high average annual income, Connecticut residents face some of the highest property taxes, income taxes, and corporate taxes in the country. At the same time, the state struggles with elevated housing costs and some of the highest utility rates nationwide. For retirees, the financial math often simply doesn’t work.
In the AARP survey, 92% of respondents agreed that the state government should prioritize utility rate and regulatory changes. That is telling.
Energy policy illustrates the broader challenge. Over the past several decades, Connecticut has adopted increasingly ambitious renewable energy mandates, including Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). This measure severely restricts utilities’ ability to find the cleanest and most efficient means of providing electricity. While environmental goals are important, restricting utilities’ energy sourcing options has contributed to higher costs.
The Public Benefits Charge, a state-imposed fee on electric bills that funds various renewable energy programs, has become another driver of high rates. When policy costs are layered onto utility bills, households feel it immediately.
Connecticut’s long-term emissions goals are ambitious. But energy policy must balance environmental objectives with cost and reliability. In Alternatives to New England’s Affordability Crisis, a coalition study of New England’s energy market found that a more diversified portfolio, including nuclear and natural gas, could significantly lower costs while maintaining reliability and reducing emissions.
The General Assembly is currently considering a bill to establish a workforce that would advance nuclear energy technologies. That is a conversation worth having. Energy decisions that improve affordability and reliability would directly address the concerns raised in the AARP survey.
Affordability, however, extends beyond energy. Government spending and taxation play a central role in everyday costs. When taxes and regulatory burdens increase, those costs ripple outward — affecting housing prices, transportation costs, and grocery bills.
Even proposals framed as targeting large corporations can affect consumers. For example, H.B. 5156, would impose retroactive costs on fossil-fuel producers. Industry groups estimate it could raise gasoline prices by nearly 33 cents per gallon. For families already struggling with food and medical bills, even incremental increases matter.
Gov. Ned Lamont has spoken about the need for growth and reform to strengthen Connecticut’s future. Growth, however, requires a competitive cost structure.
If lawmakers truly believe affordability is the top issue this session, structural reform, not temporary rebates, is required. That means reassessing the tax and regulatory environment that drives costs higher.
Connecticut’s affordability challenge is not inevitable. It is the cumulative result of policy choices. If those choices are not revisited, the state will continue to lose residents, particularly those in their prime earning years and those approaching retirement, to more affordable alternatives.
The survey results are not just statistics. They are signals. Lawmakers would be wise to take them seriously.
Connecticut is set to receive more than $154 million aimed at improving health care in rural communities.
The funding comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Rural Health Transformation Program, according to a community announcement.
The Connecticut Department of Social Services will lead the initiative, partnering with other state agencies to implement projects across four core areas: population health outcomes, workforce, data and technology, and care transformation and stability, according to the announcement.
The program will include several innovative projects, such as a mobile clinic pilot with four primary care and four dental vans, a health workforce pipeline through the Area Health Education Center and UConn Health Center, and community health navigators.
“Rural Connecticut has unique challenges, and its residents deserve the same access to high-quality care and support as anyone who lives anywhere else,” Lamont said. “This investment allows us to tackle those challenges head-on – from expanding mental health services and building a stronger health care workforce to modernizing our technology infrastructure and connecting residents to the services they need. This is about making sure every corner of Connecticut has the opportunity to thrive.”
The program was developed through extensive public engagement, including more than 250 written comments, meetings with health care providers, local government officials and community organizations, as well as in-person and virtual listening sessions held across the state, according to the announcement.
Andrea Barton Reeves, commissioner of the state Department of Social Services, highlighted the program’s long-term vision.
“This program reflects our commitment to building systems that work for rural residents over the long term,” she said in the release. “We are excited and grateful to CMS for this opportunity to make sure that our investments are coordinated, impactful, and built to last.”
The program aims to bring health care closer to rural residents while supporting the workforce that provides care, said Dr. Manisha Juthani, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health.
“Every person in rural Connecticut deserves good health care close to home, and the people who provide that care deserve real support too,” Juthani said. “This funding helps us bring care to where people are and build the healthcare workforce our communities need. When we invest in both, we give everyone a better chance at staying healthy.”
Additional information about the Rural Health Transformation Program, including opportunities for public engagement, will be made available as implementation proceeds.
For more information, visit the Connecticut Department of Social Services website at ct.gov/dss.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
When a house has been loved for generations, its walls tend to hold stories. In the case of one family residence in Darien, Connecticut, that sentiment was taken quite literally. On the casement between the living room and kitchen are ticks that denote decades of growth, a quiet record of childhoods unfolding in real time. Several of those measurements belong to the home’s newest steward—the original owners’ daughter—who was ready to put her own mark on the property.
Eager to see what she could make of the 1930s structure, she and her husband tapped British-born designer Becca Casey of Connecticut-based Becca Interiors to breathe new life—and old soul—into the interior. For Casey, being entrusted with that kind of emotional patina was a privilege she didn’t take lightly. “The greatest challenge was ensuring that the new extension had synergy with the original house while bringing together the couple’s different tastes and honoring the home’s history,” Casey says of the 2,400-square-foot space.
That delicate balance shows up everywhere, from tailored silhouettes and clean lines for him to pattern and color for her. Nowhere is that nuance more evident than in the property’s oldest room, a long, beam-lined living space that once sat largely unused. Casey swathed it in an atmospheric mural, transforming it into a multi-zone haven centered on the fireplace, with moments of repose throughout where the family can gather to play a game or enjoy a book.
Around the home, Casey’s eye for nuance is unmistakable. She wields color, pattern, and shape with equal aplomb, expertly marrying form with function in a way that’s both timeless and fresh. A hidden television disappears behind drapery-lined cabinetry, the inner skeleton of an armchair is displayed like a work of art, a vintage dining table reveals a plaque from the husband’s hometown (a serendipitous discovery that made the piece instantly meaningful). In the end, reviving the dwelling wasn’t about reinvention for Casey—it was about the possibility that a new chapter can bring. The result is a space that, according to Casey, feels “quietly refined and effortlessly lived-in”—an elegant meeting point between memory and modern family life.
FAST FACTS:
Designer: Becca Casey, Becca Interiors
Location: Darien, Connecticut
The Space: A 1930s colonial with six bedrooms, across 2,400 square feet.
LIVING ROOM
Bare windows and a transportive wallpaper nod to the pastoral landscape.
The living room is the oldest space in the house, so Casey wanted to honor its bones while streamlining the layout for modern functionality. Custom Dmitriy & Co. sofas—linen on the top, patterned French mattress tufting at the base—typify the union between “his” and “her” tastes.
Sconce: Woven Shop. Lamp: Visual Comfort & Co. Chair: custom.
Table: custom, Becca Interiors. Chairs: Pottery Barn.
A traditional English roll armchair was tucked into a corner at the request of the husband, whose wish list included a spot to read. Aiming for a “layered floor plan,” with distinct areas for the family’s many needs, Casey added a game table as a visual anchor with a direct sight line to the main entryway of the home.
DEN
An original stone fireplace anchors the family-ready space.
Pendant: Woka. Coffee table: LF Collection. Sconce: Hector Finch.
Coffee table: LF Collection. Rug: Woodard Weave. Chik blinds: Joss Graham.
Drenched in French Gray paint by Farrow & Ball and grounded by the original stone fireplace, the den is carefully choreographed to support togetherness, with a custom sectional and hidden TV.
DINING ROOM
The sun-drenched space looks out to the backyard pond.
Paint: School House White, Farrow & Ball. Chairs: Maison Louis Drucker. Table: antique. Tablecloths: Zara Home, Cabana Home. Pedants: Lightology.
Part of the new addition, the serene dining room is flooded with light, thanks to expansive floor to (almost) ceiling windows. Layered textiles keep the antique table—a happy find, originally made in the husband’s hometown—geared toward casual meals.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
Salvaged beams mimic the look of the originals in the living room.
Paint: Shaded White, Farrow & Ball. Rug: Lulu and Georgia. Bedding: The Company Store. Dresser: English Farmhouse Furniture.
Inspired by Belgian interiors, the elevated placement of the fireplace isn’t just a design flex—it’s an experiential choice that puts the flames right at eye level when lounging in bed. Beside it, two vintage English armchairs stun with their exposed interior, a Becca Interiors signature touch.
PRIMARY BATH
Natural materials were chosen for their ability to patina over time.
Mirror: Rejuvenation. Floor tile: Arto. Wall paint: Slipper Statin, Farrow & Ball. Sconces: O’lampia.
In the primary bathroom, wellness comes through atmosphere rather than gadgets. A Drummonds soaking tub is positioned for prime pond views, with a gray-green base (Drop Cloth, Farrow & Ball) that reinforces the room’s soothing palette.
WORKSTATION
Smart features make family management a cinch.
Roman shade: Hunter Douglas. Desk paint: Studio Green, Farrow & Ball. Chair: Soho Home. Rug: Merribrook Collection. Flushmount: RW Guild.
To make the most of a hall nook, Casey crafted a compact desk where the wife, a teacher, can grade papers. Labeled drawers store art supplies, while a floor-to-ceiling cabinet (at side) acts as a hub for deliveries.
About the Designer
Becca Casey is the Principal Director and founder of Becca Interiors. Raised in the countryside of Southwest England, her earliest influences were rooted in history, nature, and the quiet beauty of rural life. These foundations continue to shape her design philosophy today, one that blends heritage with modern sensibility while honoring craftsmanship and the beauty of daily life at home.
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