Short-handed Sun are no match for Seattle in 12-point defeat

Connecticut’s Allison Hightower drives to the basket.

UNCASVILLE, Conn., June 16 – The Sun are struggling to stop people and it’s not a surprise that Connecticut lost for the fifth time in the last six games with a 78-66 loss to the Seattle Storm on a Father’s Day afternoon at the Mohegan Sun Arena. 

Connecticut (2-5) continues to struggle rebounding the basketball as the visiting Storm outrebounded Connecticut by a 35-27 margin. And the Sun continue to struggle to score points. 

“We were enabling them to get into the paint defensively, which cut down on our second-chance opportunities. And when they scored, you can’t run because you’re running up against their set defense,” Connecticut guard Kara Lawson said. “They are actually a pretty good defensive team. Give credit to them. They never allowed us to get into a rhythm on the offensive end of the floor.” 

Connecticut lost for the second straight game. They dropped a 78-68 loss to New York on Friday night. And the Liberty dominated Connecticut on the glass with a 57-36 edge including 20 offensive rebounds. New York’s 57 caroms is a franchise record for a Sun opponent. 

Seattle (2-3), which came into the game as the league’s lowest scoring team, didn’t have All-Star center Lauren Jackson or guard Sue Bird in the lineup. Both are missing the entire season due to injuries. The Sun lost Ashja Jones and Danielle McCray before the season with health issues and will be without guard Renee Montgomery (high ankle sprain) and Tan White (broken finger). 

“We’re missing Asjha. We’re missing our sixth woman of the year (Renee Montgomery). We’re missing Tan White,” Connecticut center Tina Charles said. “That’s not excuses. Like I said before, we’re pros and we have to handle things like pros, but it just has to be making a conscious effort of how we come out for games, where we are on the court in the flow of the game, and making adjustments during the game when we need to make those adjustments. 

“Our mindset needs to get better and we need to be more aggressive on the court, offensively and defensively, and we need to stay together on the court,” Charles said. 

Seattle (2-3) tried to limit the number of times that Lawson and Charles got the ball to disrupt the Connecticut offense. 

“We just kind of noticed that in the games they have played, that a lot of their touches and shots came from Kara as well as Tina,” Seattle’s Tina Thompson said. “So we wanted to make them as uncomfortable as possible and limit their touches. 

“We kind of hang our hats on our defense. When you are playing defense it is a grind and you have to work hard. Tina is a most valuable player and to make her uncomfortable or put her in a position that she is not usually in is a difficult task and you have to work at it. Our defense created comfort for us offense.” 

Camille Little led Seattle with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Thompson added 17 points while Tanisha Wright chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds. 

For Connecticut, Allison Hightower led the way with 17 points and five rebounds. Charles scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds. Lawson added 11 points. Hightower has scored 17 in the last two games. 

Seattle led for most of the game. They led by seven at halftime, 40-33, thanks to an 8-0 run to close out the second quarter. In the third quarter, Seattle led by three points before pulling away with a 10-0 surge. Consecutive three-point shots from Shekinna Stricken, Wright and Thompson enabled Seattle to build a 52-39 lead with 4:14 left in the third quarter. 

The Sun get a week off to prepare for Atlanta on Sunday, June 23 at the Mohegan Sun Arena at 3 p.m. 

Connecticut signed veteran guard Iziane Castro Marques Monday, waiving Natasha Lacy to make room on the roster. She played two minutes at Indiana Wednesday, five minutes against New York, scoring two points and eight minutes against Seattle for two points. 

Castro Marques, a 10-year WNBA veteran, spent the second half of 2012 WNBA season with the Washington Mystics, playing in 11 games while averaging 3.1 points per game. For her career the 6-foot guard has played in 278 games, averaging 9.7 points and two rebounds per game. 

“I was pleased to see Izzy (Iziane Castro Marques) be aggressive today, it’s going to take a little while for that come along,” Sun coach Anne Donovan said. “Her being aggressive tonight was a good thing for us; we need her to be aggressive. We need offensively to get some lift off our bench.” 

The Sun also signed Sydney Carter as a replacement player under the emergency hardship clause after the injuries to Renee Montgomery and Tan White. Carter, a 5-foot-6 guard, was selected in the third round (27th overall) of the 2012 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky. She played one game for the Sky that season, collecting four points and one steal on June 23rd at Minnesota. 

Carter was signed to a training camp contract by the Atlanta Dream on March 18 and averaged five points and 2.5 rebounds in two preseason games for the Dream before being waived on May 22.