Atlanta hands Connecticut their third loss in last four games

Atlanta’s Aerial Powers (23) goes to the basket during Friday’s WNBA game against Connecticut in Uncasville. (Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images).

Some of the glow from Connecticut’s 13-1 start is beginning to wear off. The Sun have lost three of their last four games after a 78-74 loss to the Atlanta Dream before more than 7,000 fans Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the Sun the past two weeks. Connecticut traveled to Las Vegas and Seattle and dropped tough games. The Sun had leads in both of them but the host teams wore them down.

After a 94-91 win in overtime over Washington on Thursday, the Sun played their first back-to-back games of the season.

It won’t get any easier either. The Sun head back out West to face Phoenix on Monday night and then face Minnesota next Thursday in Minneapolis before coming back to Connecticut for three games to close out the first half of the season before the Olympic break.

The opportunity for the win was there Friday against Atlanta. The game was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands 16 times. The Sun had a two-point lead with 3:41 remaining and cut the lead to one with 2:09 left but couldn’t get over the hump.

“We had opportunities and a few plays here and there, timely turnovers, missed execution,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “And Atlanta made plays and made shots when they needed to, especially in the second half and down the stretch.”

Atlanta’s Alisha Gray made some big plays in the last two minutes. She hit a nothing-but-net jumper from 17 feet with 1:44 left in the game to extend Atlanta’s one-point lead to three points, 70-67.

At the other end of the floor, she blocked an attempted three-point shot from Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington, igniting a break in the other direction for the Dream (7-9). Jordin Canada hit a pair of three throws and the lead was five, 72-67, with 1:18 to go.

Atlanta led by three, 74-71 with 38 seconds remaining after Bonner sank a pair of foul shots. The Sun had a chance to tie but Ty Harris’ three-point shot hit the front of the rim and into the hands of a Dream defender.

“When you playing the second half of back to back (games), execution is paramount and they did a better job of executing in that second half,” White said.

Gray led the Dream with 17 points while former Sun MVP and No. 1 draft choice Tina Charles had 14 points.

Bonner led the Sun (14-4) with 17 points with Carrington scoring 15 points, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. She had a career-high three steals. Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Harris had a rough shooting night, sinking just two of nine shots for six points.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored seven points, pulled down two rebounds and had a steal in 11 minutes off the bench.

The contest was tied 19-19 after one quarter of play, with Alyssa Thomas notching four rebounds and four assists through ten minutes of action. The Sun outscored the Dream by two, 14-12, in the second quarter to take a two-point edge, 33-31, into the locker room.

Connecticut was able to gain a four-point lead over Atlanta, 62-58, with seven minutes to play in the game, but Atlanta finished the contest outscoring Connecticut 20-12 the rest of the way to take the 78-74 win.

Both teams struggled to take care of the ball, with the Sun turning it over 18 times and the Dream turning it over 19 times. Atlanta was able to capitalize more on turnovers however, scoring 17 points off Connecticut’s 18 mistakes, while Connecticut scored just 14 points of Atlanta’s miscues.

The Sun’s 23 field goals and 26 rebounds mark new season-lows. Connecticut’s starters accounted for 17 of the team’s 18 turnovers.

On Thursday night in Washington, the Sun trailed by as many as 16 points in the game, marking the largest deficit the team has overcome in a win this season. Washington led Connecticut, 82-75, with 2:37 to play in regulation, but the Sun finished the fourth scoring seven unanswered to force overtime.

The final five minutes of play was a back-and-forth battle, but Connecticut was able to hang on, outscoring Washington 12-9 in overtime, to take home the win.

Bonner led the Sun in scoring and finished with her second double-double of the season, notching 24 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Harris had a career-high 23 points, along with one rebound, one assist and a career-high tying four steals.

Carrington finished with a season-high 22 points. She scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half and overtime period, including 10 of the Sun’s 12 points in extra time. Carrington finished with a season-high four three-point field goals in the win.

Veronica Burton added a spark off the bench with a season-high nine points and season-high five assists. She also drew a crucial offensive foul against Washington’s Julie Vanloo in the closing seconds of regulation to force extra time.