Game Three lacked some of the drama of the first two, but it was no disappointment to the 14,000 at Arco.

"No question, this is the biggest ever in Monarchs history," ex-general manager Jerry Reynolds said. "But it can be topped on Tuesday."

DeMya Walker bounced back from Thursday's mistake and had a solid game, but as usual, Yo Griffith was the cornerstone of the Monarchs' win, with 19 and 11.

She's so close now she can taste it. "Tuesday's game is a must win," Yo said. "Even though we're up (2-1), I should be happy, but am I? I know I'm not satisified."

The Sun just didn't play their usual game. They didn't run, and they ended with 15 turnovers to just 7 assists. They came back late, but then failed to score in the final 200 seconds.

"I guess I'm not a very good prognosticator because I thought we would play our best game in the series today and we played our worst," coach Thibault said. "You don't win any games when you give them 20 points on turnovers and 16 points on offensive rebounds. ... You don't win."

Whalen struggled: 2 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers. Coach T says it's not just physical. Mike DiMauro says she's hurting her team by playing. (He also bristles at the Sun's decision to make her unavailable to the media.) It's unclear whether she'll play Game 4.