Ty Harris (52) drives to the basket during Tuesday night’s WNBA game at Mohegan Sun Arena, which the Sun won 79-70.
UNCASVILLE, Conn., June 18, 2024 – The Connecticut Sun have some tough games ahead of them.
Five of their next six games will be on the road, visiting Las Vegas on Thursday night to face the defending two-time champion Aces. Connecticut then plays at Seattle (9-5) on Sunday.
But the Sun didn’t miss the visitors, the Los Angeles Sparks and their 6-foot-4 forward Cameron Brink, the No. 2 pick in the recent WNBA draft out of Stanford University.
All five Connecticut starters scored at least 11 points and the Sun beat the Sparks 79-70, their 10th straight victory, before a crowd of 7,853 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Brink stumbled awkwardly early in the game while battling Connecticut’s Breonna Jones for a loose ball and did not return.
DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Tayshia Harris added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Olympian Alyssa Thomas, who drew cheers from the crowd after being named to the U.S. Olympic team shortly before the game, had 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
DiJonai Carrington added 12 points and Jones had 13 points.
The Suns are currently 13-1 and off to their best start in franchise history. Connecticut went 12-2 in 2005.
“There’s still room for improvement,” Thomas said. “These are games to win. When you have games like tonight where everybody is contributing, that’s what we want to see every game. We’ve just got to continue to build on this.”
Aari McDonald led Los Angeles with 14 points and seven assists in the loss to fellow injured Azura Stevens (strained left arm). Li Yu’er came off the bench to score 11 points for the Sparks (4-11).
“I think every game is important for us,” Suns coach Stephanie White said, “and in my opinion, we’re not a team that can afford to take anything for granted, home or away, any team, any moment. We’re not that team.”
“Every fight is a battle. We respect everybody and we’re not afraid of anybody for us,” White said. “We have a very businesslike approach. It’s the fight in front of us that matters.”
Jones scored seven points in the first six minutes of the game to help Connecticut jump out to an early 13-7 lead. The Sparks cut the lead to four points at the end of the first quarter, 18-14.
In the second quarter, Connecticut used a 12-6 run to jump out to a 10-point lead, 30-20, with Bonner and Harris each hitting 3-pointers and Bonner and Rachel Banham each hitting jump shots.
Los Angeles rookie Cameron Brink, 22, tries to pass Connecticut’s Breonna Jones during a WNBA game in Uncasville on Tuesday after Brink slipped and hurt her knee during the play.
The Sparks cut the lead to seven, 33-26, but Connecticut outscored the Sparks 6-2 with 2:38 left to take an 11-point lead, 39-28, at halftime. Bonner made two free throws and had a steal and a layup during the run.
Again, the Sparks cut the lead to seven on a Dearrica Hamby three-point play with 2:54 left in the third quarter, 53-48. And again, Connecticut fought back with a 12-0 run behind basketball from Thomas, Bonner, Harris and Mitchell to take control of the game.
The lead grew to 19 points in the fourth quarter.
The Suns entered the game as the best defensive team in the league, allowing an average of 77.6 points per game, including 70 against the Sparks.
The Sun travel to Las Vegas on Thursday to take on the Aces (5-5), who are struggling without Olympic guard Chelsea Gray, in a 10 p.m. game.
Celebrity
Los Angeles committed 24 turnovers, and Connecticut scored 30 points off those mistakes, a season-high for points off turnovers by the Sun. Alyssa Thomas passed Kate Smith for 22nd in WNBA history. She now has 1,259 career assists. DiJonai Carrington recorded a career-high three steals. With four field goals made in the win, Alyssa Thomas surpassed 1,400 career field goals (1,403). She is one of four players in league history with at least 1,400 field goals, 1,200 assists, and 2,000 rebounds (Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker, and Diana Taurasi). The Sun held Sparks leading scorer Dearrica Hamby to just eight points on the night, 11 points below her season average (19.0) entering the game. The Sparks committed a season-high 15 turnovers in the first half, tying their season-high for most turnovers at halftime. The Suns scored 20 points off 15 turnovers in the first half. The Suns outscored the Sparks in the paint, scoring a season-high 50 points to their 32.
Connecticut 79, Los Angeles 70
In Uncasville, Connecticut.
Los Angeles (70): Jackson 3-7 4-6 10, Hamby 3-7 2-4 8, Brink 0-0 0-0 0, Nurse 2-5 0-0 6, McDonald 6-10 1-1 14, Youell 5-6 0-1 11, Brown 3-5 0-0 8, Talbot 3-5 3-4 9, Clarendon 0-2 2-2 2, Burell 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-51 12-18 70.
Connecticut (79). Bonner 6-12 3-4 16, Thomas 4-5 3-5 11, Jones 6-11 1-1 13, Carrington 6-12 0-0 12, Harris 6-9 0-0 14, Nelson-Ododa 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 3-8 0-0 6, Banham 3-7 0-0 7, Burton 0-0 0-0 0, N’Dour-Faure 0-0 0-0 0. Total 34-65 7-10 79.
Los Angeles (4-11) 14 14 20 22 — 70
Connecticut (13-1) 18 21 24 16 — 79
3-Point Goals: Los Angeles 6-17 (Jackson 0-1, Hamby 0-1, Nurse 2-4, McDonald 1-3, Youell 1-1, Brown 2-4, Talbot 0-1, Clarendon 0-1, Cook 0-1); Connecticut 4-10 (Bonner 1-4, Carrington 0-1, Harris 2-2, Mitchell 0-1, Banham 1-2); Attendance: 7853
