Leading wire-to-wire, Connecticut beats Phoenix for 2nd straight win

There wasn’t a lot expected from the Connecticut Sun in 2026 with a young core and the team moving to Houston at the end of the season.

It was a different story for the Phoenix Mercury. A year ago, in Alyssa Thomas’ first year in the desert, the Mercury went to the WNBA finals before getting swept by Las Vegas, 4-0.

In the offseason, Phoenix’s leading scorer Satou Sabally signed a free agent deal with New York and then injuries slowed down the Mercury. Sami Whitcomb has missed 22 games and center Natasha Mack is still out with an injury.

The Sun showed the Mercury no mercy on Friday night.

Leila Laclan scored a career-high 26 points and Connecticut led wire-to-wire with a 96-83 victory – their second straight victory after beating Portland in Uncasville on Tuesday morning. Griner scored six of the first eight points of the game against Phoenix as the Sun raced out to an early 8-0 lead.

Connecticut (7-18) had five players in double figures with Kennedy Burke scoring 13 points with three 3-point shots and Griner and Aaliyah Edwards scoring 12 points each. Diamond Miller added 11.

“Everybody was just staying ready,” Miller said. “And when their opportunity was called, they were ready and they were hitting their shots and doing what they need to do. And we’re a really dangerous team when we’re all collectively playing like that.”

Kahleah Cooper did her best to keep the Mercury (8-18) in the game with 21 points while Thomas added 17 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,021.

But Phoenix made too many turnovers (15) and had too many defensive lapses throughout the game. The Sun scored 25 points off turnovers and had a 19-6 advantage on the run, with several runs to the basket beginning with turnovers.

It was Griner’s first game back in Phoenix after playing 11 years with the Mercury from 2013-24.

The two teams will play again on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Phoenix on ESPN.

Connecticut shot a season-high 52.2 percent from the floor for the second straight game.

The Sun led by eight with 7:41 left in the second quarter before the Sun went on a 13-2 run to take command of the contest. It started with Griner tipping the rebound of a missed shot to Burke, who scored to extend the lead to 10 points.

When the run was complete, the Sun had a commanding 47-28 lead. Lacan had 10 of the 13 points in the surge, including a three-point shot.

“We saw how she impacts the game on both sides, defensively and offensively,” Sun coach Rachid Meziane said. “She created her own shot. She makes the plays, the right plays she played a monster game and I wish the same thing happens in two days.”

Saniya Rivers’ steal and layup with 1:37 left in the first half gave Connecticut their biggest lead of the game, 20 points, 52-32.

The Sun led 54-37 at the half and Phoenix came out strong in the third quarter, cutting the lead to eight with 6:06 left in the third quarter on a great drive to the basket from Cooper.

But the Sun found holes in the Mercury defense and used a 13-4 run to grab command of the contest again. Miller had a three-point play in the lane and drove to the basket on the Sun’s next possession to push the lead back to 13 points.

Burke split two defenders and drove to the basket as the lead swelled to 15 points.

With 3:06 left in the quarter, Edwards was left wide open and hit an open jumper. On Connecticut’s next possession, Edwards pulled down the offensive rebound and put it in off the glass for a 17-point lead.

This was the opening game of a six-game road trip for the Sun, who don’t return to Mohegan Sun Arena until August 7 when they will host the Mercury for the final time in Uncasville. Thomas’ jersey number will be retired into the rafters at that game.