Sun pull away from Chicago to remain first in Eastern Conference

Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas scored 16 of her team-leading 20 points in the second half of Tuesday night’s win over Chicago.

The Connecticut Sun have an eye on their first playoff berth in four seasons. So, they need to take care of business.

The Sun led the Chicago Sky by one midway through the third quarter. But Connecticut outscored Chicago, 12-0 over a 4:19 span late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter turn a seven-point lead into a 19-point advantage to take control and roll past the Sky, 93-72 Tuesday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Connecticut (13-9) remains in first place in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Washington Mystics. Winning the Eastern Conference doesn’t mean what it used to with the WNBA’s new playoff format. The top eight teams in the league earn a spot in the WNBA’s post-season tournament.

All-Star Alyssa Thomas scored 16 of her season-high 20 points in the second half to lead Connecticut. She pulled down nine rebounds and had five assists. For the sixth time in the last seven games, Courtney Williams scored in double digits with 17 points and six assists.

“That was an important win for us,” Sun coach Curt Miller said. “We were trying to keep the momentum that we built before the All-Star break. It was a pretty ugly game in stretches. I was proud of the intensity and the fight we had. We competed in the second half and showed more of Sun basketball.”

Jasmine Thomas scored 17 points and dished out eight assists for Connecticut. Jonquel Jones had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Sun – her 12th double/double of the season. The Sun set a new season for assists in the game (27) and steals (13).

“They are real young, they are active, and they move a lot. You can tell they have chemistry, they know each other, they can just throw passes and know they are going to be there. Overall, they run and they get up and down with Alyssa at the four and JJ she is really athletic and that makes Connecticut difficult,” Chicago’s Jessica Breland said.

Once again, Alyssa Thomas was a spark for the Sun. Her 20 points tied a season-high and she rebounded (9) and dished the ball (5 assists).

“Well, she’s a bulldozer. I call her a bowling ball at times,” Miller said. “She just bounces off of people and it’s like pins falling at times and she spins off of people. She gets her fair share of charges in this league but we’re better when she’s in attack mode.”

The Sun knew to stay with the hot hand. “Once she got going, we just go with it, keep getting her the ball, keep putting her in situations where she can take over,” Jasmine Thomas said.

Defense helped spark the Sun offense. “In the second half, we just really focused on our defense,” Alyssa Thomast said. “Once our defense got going, we were able to get out in transition for some easy buckets.”

A dominant performance on the backboards helped fuel fast break baskets, too, for Connecticut. The Sun held a 44-28 edge in rebounding over Chicago (8-14).

Connecticut travels to Washington on Friday night to play the Mystics in a battle for first place in the Eastern Conference and the No. 3 seed in the league. Then, Connecticut returns home for eight of their final 10 games beginning with a contest against Indiana on Sunday at 3 p.m.

ALL-STAR WEEKEND: The Sun were prominent at last Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game in Seattle. Miller and his coaching staff led the Eastern Conference in a 130-121 loss to the Western Conference. The Connecticut staff stepped in after New York head coach Bill Laimbeer asked to be excused from coaching to tend to his wife, who was ill.

Jonquel Jones had a game-high 24 points including a dunk in the final minute of the contest. She also pulled down nine rebounds. Jasmine Thomas had eight points and eight assists for the Eastern Conference while Alyssa Thomas scored four points.