Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas (25) had a historic performance in Tuesday night’s win over Minnesota at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Perhaps this will wake some voters around the WNBA if they hadn’t known this already.
Connecticut forward Alyssa Thomas is a legitimate candidate for the league’s most valuable player award and she showed her value again on Tuesday night in the Sun’s 79-69 win over the resurgent Minnesota Lynx at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Thomas scored 21 points, pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds and dished out 12 assists as the Sun (19-7) won for the third time in the last four games. The victory removed the sour taste from the mouth of the Sun after the Lynx came in Sunday afternoon and beat Connecticut, 87-83.
Not only did Thomas achieve a triple double for the sixth time this season and the ninth time in her career – both WNBA records – but she became the first player in league history with at least 20 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a single game. She also three steals and two blocked shots against the Lynx.
Thomas, a 6-foot-2 forward who is averaging 14.6 points game, entered Tuesday night’s game leading the league in rebounds (9.8 per game) and assists (8.1 per game).
“There are sometimes when players do things and you’re just speechless,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “A spectacular moment we all witnessed tonight and just a really, really incredible effort by her.”
Thomas never left the floor, playing all 40 minutes.
“It’s hard to take her off the floor,” White admitted. “She does so many things, so many things that are important for us. One or two possessions are the difference in games and she makes it real difficult (for White to substitute for her) just because of the way she plays.”
Where would the Sun be without Thomas?
Thomas is not a player who sits there and demands your attention and respect. She simply plays hard – all of the time. And by her example, she implores her teammates to do the same.
“She sees it all. All I know is run the floor and she will find me,” Sun guard Tyasha Harris said. “It’s amazing what she does, the triple doubles, the amount of minutes she plays and how hard she plays. I admire her game.”
Thomas said, “A lot of credit goes to my teammates. I say this every time. Without them making the shots, I can’t get triple doubles.”
Tied at 18-18 early in the game, Thomas found DeWanna Bonner on back-to-back scoring plays in the low post to give the Sun an early four-point lead. With 4:10 remaining in the second quarter, it was Thomas pulling down the rebound, driving the floor and going coast-to-coast with a layup wtt and driving the floor to give the Sun a five-point lead.
Midway through the third quarter, Bonner’s three-point shot bounced off the rim but Thomas crashed the boards, grabbed the ball and put it right back into the basket despite a defender on her. And that’s just a few of the Thomas highlights from this one.
“AT (Thomas) imposed her will and we had no answer for it,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “She took over at both ends (of the floor). Defensively just being disruptive and her team fed off that and offensively, our (big players) were ineffective at guarding her.
“She is someone who is clearly one of the best players in the world and she had her way with us,” Reeve said.
Thomas and Bonner, the Sun’s two All-Star players, have carried the team this season, especially with the loss of Brionna Jones due to a season-ending injury in June. She tore her Achilles tendon in a game against Seattle.
The Sun have been in need of additional help for Thomas and Bonner all season. On Tuesday, Harris stepped up with a season-high 17 points and four assists off the bench. Tiffany Hayes added 16 points and Bonner scored 15.
Harris made plays defensively and offensively to help the Sun. Starting guard Natisha Hiedeman scored just two points on 1-of-4 shooting.
“We always, always, always have to have energy and production off the bench,” White said. “(Harris) had command of the offense and what she did defensively was terrific.”
After a low scoring first quarter, Connecticut opened the second quarter with an 8-2 to take a 22-18 lead. Harris scored 11 points in the second quarter as the Sun took a 37-30 lead into halftime.
Minnesota (13-14) opened the second half with a 7-4 run to cut the lead to four, 41-37 but the Sun responded with an 11-6 run to take command of the contest. Minnesota cut the lead to six with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter but Harris scored on consecutive possessions to boost the lead back to 10.
Thomas has three triple double performances against Minnesota in her career. She had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a win last July 22 along with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in Sunday’s loss at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
Thomas is the first WNBA player with a triple double performance in three consecutive games. Her 20 rebounds and 21 points make her the first Sun player since Jonquel Jones on May 31, 2019 to achieve that feat. She is just the third player in Sun history to do this. Tina Charles did it twice.
Connecticut returns to the floor on Friday night when they travel to Indiana for a 7 p.m. start on the ION network, available on New London affiliate WHPX Channel 26.
Connecticut 79, Minnesota 69
At Uncasville, Conn.
Minnesota (69) Juhasz 2-6 0-0 4, Miller 4-14 4-4 13, Milic 3-4 1-3 7, McBride 4-11 5-6 15, Allen 7-9 1-1 16, Shepard 2=5 2-4 6, Carleton 0-4 0-0 0, Engstler 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 1-2 3-4 6, Powers 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 23-59 18-24 69
Connecticut (79) Bonner 7-19 0-0 15, Thomas 9-17 3-4 21, Hayes 7-9 0-1 16, Allen 2-5 0-0 4, Hiedeman 1-4 0-0 2, Nelson-Ododa 2-3 0-0 4, Harris 8-12 0-1 17, Carrington 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 36-71 3-6 79
Minnesota (13-14) 16 14 22 17 — 69
Connecticut (19-7) 14 23 23 19 — 79
Three-point shots: Connecticut 4-20 (Bonner 1-9, Hayes 2-4, Allen 0-1, Hiedeman 0-2, Harris 1-3, Carrington 0-1); Minnesota 5-18 (Juhasz 0-1, Miller 1-2, McBride 2-8, Allen 1-1, Engstler 0-1, Mitchell 1-1, Powers 0-1)
https://youtu.be/s6_p0sDzOLQ
