UNCASVILLE — Another day, another game and another defensive masterclass delivered by the Sun.
The Connecticut Sun were in firm control all night long in Tuesday’s victory over the Los Angeles Sparks, 79-70. The Sun have become the seventh team in WNBA history to start the season winning 13 of their first 14 games.
“These are games we’re supposed to win,” Sun forward Alyssa Thomas said after the game. “When you have nights like this, where everyone’s contributing, this is what we want to see in every game, so we just got to continue to build on this.”
Connecticut (13-1) will hit the road for its next game on Friday, June 21 against two-time defending champions Las Vegas Aces at 10 p.m.
“We just got to be locked in,” Sun coach Stephanie White said on Friday’s marquee matchup. “Winning is tough. Playing on the road is even tougher. Playing on the road against the defending champ takes it up another level. So we just got to be disciplined. We (have) to be detailed. We got to come (ready) to play.”
DeWanna Bonner led the way with a game-high 16 points and seven rebounds, one of five players to score in double-digits for Connecticut. The team posted a season-high for points in the paint, outscoring the Sparks 50-32 inside.
The Sun earned themselves easy opportunities to score throughout the night, forcing the Sparks to cough up 24 turnovers which led to 30 points off turnovers for the hosts.
“(The Sun are) a tremendous defensive team that really slaps (and) pokes (the ball) and is (consistently) in passing lanes,” Los Angeles Sparks coach Curt Miller said.
The Sun’s former coach highlighted the work that White has done since taking over last season in furthering the defensive identity the team had cultivated during his seven-year tenure.
“We were so disruptive and (a) dictating-type of defense when I was here and (Stephanie White) just continued that,” said the two-time recipient of the WNBA Coach of the Year Award.
The Sparks were dealt a major blow early in the first when forward Cameron Brink exited the game after slipping and landing hard on her left knee.
Brink could not get up on her own and needed her teammates to help her back up. She gingerly limped toward the bench, clearly favoring her left leg, but as she reached the bench the Sparks’ training staff elected to lift and carry her off the court and towards the locker room.
Brink was not seen again for the rest of the game and was officially ruled out for the rest of the game at halftime with a non-contact left knee injury. Miller did not have any further updates after the game and stated that she will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
