
Ty Harris (52) drives to the basket during Tuesday night’s WNBA game at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The Sun prevailed, 79-70.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. June 18, 2024 – The Connecticut Sun have a challenging slate of games ahead of them.
Five of the next six games are on the road including a visit to Las Vegas on Friday night (ION, WHCT-26) to face the two-time defending champion Aces at 10 p.m. Connecticut follows that contest up with a game at Seattle (9-5) on Sunday.
But the Sun didn’t overlook the visiting Los Angeles Sparks and Cameron Brink, the 6-foot-4 forward out of Stanford and the No. 2 pick in the recent WNBA draft.
All five Connecticut starters scored at least 11 points as the Sun beat the Sparks for the tenth straight time with a 79-70 victory before 7,853 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Brink stumbled awkwardly early in the game battling with Connecticut’s Brionna Jones for a loose ball and never returned.
DeWanna Bonner led the Sun with 16 points and seven rebounds while Tyasha Harris had 14 points, converting on six of nine shots from the floor. Olympian Alyssa Thomas, who was cheered by the crowd for her U.S. Olympic invitation just prior to the game, had 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
DiJonai Carrington scored 12 points with Jones getting 13 points.
The Sun are now 13-1 and off to the best start in franchise history. Connecticut went 12-2 in 2005.
“There is still room for improvement,” Thomas said. “These are games we are supposed to win. When we have nights like this when everyone is contributing. This is what we what to see in every game. We just have to continue to build on this.”
Los Angeles, who was also without the injured Azura Stevens (left arm injury), was led by Aari McDonald with 14 points and seven assists. Li Yueru had 11 points off the bench for the Sparks (4-11).
“I think every game is important for us,” Sun coach Stephanie White said “We are not, in my mind, a team that has the luxury of taking any team, any moment, home or away, for granted. We’re just not that team.
“Every game will be a battle. We respect everyone and fear no one for us,” White said. “We’re very business-like in our approach. It is the game in front of us that matters.”
Jones had seven points in the first six minutes of the game to help Connecticut race out to an early 13-7 lead. The Sparks cut the lead to four points after one quarter, 18-14.
In the second quarter, Connecticut used a 12-6 run to take a 10-point lead, 30-20 with Bonner and Harris each hitting three-point shots in the run and Bonner and Rachel Banham each hitting a jump shot.

Los Angeles rookie Cameron Brink (22) tries to get past Connecticut’s Brionna Jones in Tuesday’s WNBA game in Uncasville. Brink slipped on the play and hurt her knee.
The Sparks cut the lead to seven, 33-26, but Connecticut outscored the Sparks, 6-2 in the final 2:38 to take an 11-point lead at the half, 39-28. Bonner hit a pair of foul shots and got a steal and a layup in the run.
Again, the Sparks cut the lead to seven with a three-point play from Dearica Hamby with 2:54 left in the third quarter, 53-48. And, again, Connecticut responded with a 12-0 run to take command of the contest with basketballs from Thomas, Bonner, Harris and Mitchell.
The lead got as high as 19 points in the fourth quarter.
The Sun came into the game as the top defensive team in the league, averaging 77.6 points allowed. They gave up 70 against the Sparks.
The Sun return to action on Friday night when they travel to Las Vegas to face the Aces (5-5), who have struggled without Olympic guard Chelsea Gray, in a 10 p.m. contest.
UPDATE: The Sparks announced on Wednesday that Brinks tore her ACL on the play she was injured. She was trying to drive past Jones. Brinks had been selected to play on the United States 3×3 Olympic basketball team coached by Sun president Jennifer Rizotti.
Notables
- Los Angeles had 24 turnovers and Connecticut scored 30 points off those mistakes- a new season-high for points scored off turnovers by the Sun.
- Alyssa Thomas moved into 22nd all-time in WNBA history, passing Kate Smith. She now has 1,259 assists in her career.
- DiJonai Carrington tied her career-high with three steals.
- With four field goals in the win, Alyssa Thomas eclipsed 1,400 field goals made in her career (1,403). She is one of four players in league history to reach at least 1,400 field goals made, 1,200 assists and 2,000 rebounds (Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi).
- The Sun held the Sparks’ leading scorer Dearica Hamby to just eight points on the night, 11 points under her season average entering the game (19.0).
- The Sparks committed a season-high 15 turnovers in the first half of action, tying their season-high for turnovers in a single half. The Sun scored 20 points off those 15 first half turnovers.
- The Sun outscored the Sparks in the paint, scoring a season-high 50 points against their 32.
Connecticut 79, Los Angeles 70
At Uncasville, Conn.
Los Angeles (70) Jackson 3-7 4-6 10, Hamby 3-7 2-4 8, Brink 0-0 0-0 0, Nurse 2-5 0-0 6, McDonald 6-10 1-1 14, Yueru 5-6 0-1 11, Brown 3-5 0-0 8, Talbot 3-5 3-4 9, Clarendon 0-2 2-2 2, Burell 0-1 0-0 0, Cooke 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-51 12-18 70
Connecticut (79) Bonner 6-12 3-4 16, Thomas 4-5 3-5 11, Jones 6-11 1-1 13, Carrington 6-12 0-0 12, Harris 6-9 0-0 14, Nelson-Ododa 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 3-8 0-0 6, Banham 3-7 0-0 7, Burton 0-0 0-0 0, Ndour-Fall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-65 7-10 79
Los Angeles (4-11) 14 14 20 22 — 70
Connecticut (13-1) 18 21 24 16 — 79
Three-point goals: Los Angeles 6-17 (Jackson 0-1, Hamby 0-1, Nurse 2-4, McDonald 1-3, Yueru 1-1, Brown 2-4, Talbot 0-1, Clarendon 0-1, Cooke 0-1); Connecticut 4-10 (Bonner 1-4, Carrington 0-1, Harris 2-2, Mitchell 0-1, Banham 1-2); Att: 7853
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.


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