Connecticut’s Tina Charles helped the Sun win their third straight game on Saturday with a win over Chicago at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
Connecticut’s Tina Charles, 36, continues to play well in the twilight of her WNBA career. The veteran forward had a game-high 23 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and had two assists to lead the Sun to their third straight win, 94-84, over the Chicago Sky on Saturday in Chicago.
Connecticut (9-27), which lost 13 of their first 14 games, is on their longest winning streak of the season. The Sun have won four of their last five games. Chicago (9-27) has lost six of their last seven games. Former UConn guard Kia Nurse led the Sky with 19 points.
“We had a completely new team (to begin the season) and some times rebuilding takes a long time,” Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey said. “But we stuck with it. Not that everything is perfect but right now, we’re finding an identity, which is important for the future of the team and the franchise.”
Charles secured her 200th career double-double with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in a single game. She is the first player in WNBA history to achieve that mark. It was her sixth double-double of the season and her 86th double-double in a Sun uniform.
After going six straight games in single-digit scoring, Connecticut’s Bria Hartley exploded for 23 points and four assists. She sank 8-of-9 shots from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Marina Mabrey added 20 points, four rebounds, a season-high eight assists and two steals in the win.
Rookie guard Saniya Rivers rounded on the Sun’s double-digit scorers with 13 points, three assists and a team-high three steals. Rivers has led Connecticut in steals on 16 occasions this season and has had three or more steals in a game eight times.
Mabrey had 12 points in the first quarter as the Sun led by 15 points after one quarter, 28-13. The Sun led by as many as 20 in the second quarter before heading into halftime with a 55-41 lead. Mabrey had 16 points at the break with Charles and Rivers with 10 points each.
Connecticut led by as many as 21 points in the second half but Chicago surged and cut the lead to four, 77-73 with 7:05 left in the game.
Connecticut led by five, 84-79 with 2:49 remaining when Aneesah Morrow his a big three-point shot which was followed by five unanswered points by Connecticut (two Mabrey free throws and a three-pointer from Hartley) to extend the lead to 10, 89-79 with 2:00 left in the game.
The Sun shot better from the floor in this game, hitting on 51.5 percent of their shots.
“We never gave up on each other,” Mabrey said. “We never turned on each other. When we were sad, we were all sad together. We were all hurting together.”
Connecticut had 10 steals, the fourth time in the last five games with 10 or more steals. Chicago had 19 turnovers which resulted in 26 points for the Sun.
Nurse led the Sky with 19 points in 18 minutes off the bench. She was 5-of-9 from three-point range. Forward Angel Resse had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago while Kamilla Cordoso scored18 points and Ariel Adkins added 12.
The Sun travel to New York to face the struggling Liberty on Monday night in Brooklyn at 7 p.m. The Liberty, playing without the injured Brianna Stewart, have lost five of their last seven games.
