DeWanna Bonner scored a game-high 20 points Friday night and Alyssa Thomas bagged her first career triple-double as the Connecticut Sun defeated the Minnesota Lynx 94-84 in Minneapolis.
Thomas collected 15 points, 12 assists and 10 boards for Connecticut (18-9), which sank 55.2 percent of its field goal tries and hit 10 of 21 3-pointers.
Courtney Williams also added 15 points, while Brionna Jones and reserve Bria Hartley each scored 11.
With the game in hand after Thomas’ ninth rebound with 4:48 left, Sun coach Curt Miller allowed her to stay on the floor in an attempt to accomplish the rare feat. Thomas made it happen when she nabbed Natalie Achonwa’s missed jumper with 16.4 seconds remaining and Miller used a 20-second timeout to get Thomas out of the game.
Five players scored in double figures for Minnesota (10-18), led by Aerial Powers with 14 points. Sylvia Fowles, Kayla McBride and Nikolina Milic each added 12, while Rachel Banham contributed 11 points.
The Lynx shot 54.8 percent from the field and earned a 28-22 rebounding advantage, but they ran into turnover problems, committing 16. They fell two games behind Dallas for the final WNBA playoff spot.
Connecticut started to establish a working margin with a 12-4 run over a 2:23 span late in the first quarter, taking a 22-14 lead on Jones’ layup. The Sun made 11 of 16 shots in the period and took a 26-19 advantage to the second quarter.
Connecticut continued to execute and score almost at will in the second quarter. Its margin grew to 16 when Williams converted a layup at the 1:10 mark. The Sun got to halftime with a comfortable 51-38 cushion.
The third period was more of the same. The lead reached 21 when Williams canned a pullup jumper with 6:35 remaining and then got to 79-57 on Thomas’ layup. Hartley’s 3-pointer made it 82-63 going to the fourth quarter.
The teams play again Sunday night in Minneapolis.
–Field Level Media