All five starters scored in double figures for the Sun on Tuesday night as Connecticut improved to 3-0 with an 88-81 road win over the Washington Mystics.
Alyssa Thomas scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while dishing out five assists for Connecticut. DeWanna Bonner added 15 points, and Tiffany Hayes and Natisha Hiedeman each chipped in 13. Brionna Jones contributed 12 points.
Elena Delle Donne was stellar in defeat for Washington (1-2), pumping in a game-high 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Brittney Sykes added 17 and Shakira Austin contributed 14 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.
The score was tied at 65 before Hayes drilled a 3-pointer with 7:39 left in the game to give the Sun the lead for good. It started a 13-4 run that Hiedeman capped with a three-point play at the 4:33 mark for a nine-point advantage.
Delle Donne made a layup with 1:14 remaining to pull the Mystics within 81-79, but Bonner converted a short jumper in the lane on Connecticut’s next possession to restore control.
In the teams’ second meeting in three days, Connecticut and Washington put on more or less a duplicate of the Sun’s 80-74 win on Sunday in Uncasville, Conn.
The Mystics started quickly for the second straight game, going up 10-3 less than four minutes in on consecutive buckets from Delle Donne but falling behind 21-17 at the end of the first quarter when Rebecca Allen drove coast-to-coast for a layup.
Connecticut opened up a 35-28 lead just past the midway point of the second period before Austin and Delle Donne combined for 14 straight Mystics points to end the half. Delle Donne had the last eight, including a fadeaway in the last minute that pulled Washington within 43-42 entering intermission.
The Mystics led briefly on three occasions in the third quarter, but Thomas drove for a layup to cap a 6-0 burst that gave the Sun a 63-59 edge going to the fourth.
–Field Level Media