Sun Rout Vegas in Season Opener

Chiney Ogwumike (13) drives the lane against Nia
Coffee (12) of Las Vegas in the season opener for
both teams. (Photo by Bill Harris)

By Bob Phillips

UNCASVILLE—Last season was one of revival for the Connecticut Sun, who reached thepostseason for the first time since Mike Thibault roamed the sidelines and Tina Charles owned the paint at the Mohegan Sun Arena. That was the whacky 2012 season, when the WNBA took a month off in August, so its stars could compete in the London Olympics.

That season, Charles, the former UConn superstar who currently plays for her hometown New York Liberty, was named the league’s MVP, and the Sun advanced to the Eastern Division finals. Then, after a four-year playoff drought, the Sun rebounded last season—its first under head coach and general manager Curt Miller—to finish the regular season at 21-13 and, again, advance to the Eastern Division Finals.

Last season was played without the services of Chiney Ogwumike, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft, who missed the entire campaign recovering from Achilles tendon surgery. This year, Ogwumike returns healthy, and teams up in the frontcourt with last year’s leading rebounder, Jonquel Jones, to give the Sun what can only be described as a powerhouse frontcourt. Indeed, Jones, who missed the preseason for personal reasons, was making her 2018 debut.

“We are happy to have everyone together, but we are still working on putting all the pieces together,” said Connecticut guard Jasmine Thomas after the game. “[Jones] has only been here a few days and it was her first game so we will have a much better J.J. soon.”

And if Sunday was any indication, this season will be a powerhouse campaign for the Sun, who ran roughshod over the Las Vegas Aces, 101-65, before 6,637 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Opening Day. The Sun were led by Alyssa Thomas, the former Maryland star and No. 4 overall pick in 2014, who put up a double-double—13 points and a career-best 17 rebounds—while chipping in with six assists, Alex Bentley added a team-high 18 points, on 7-for-15 shooting (including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc), while Jasmine Thomas (12) and Shekinna Stricklen (11) also scored in double digits for Connecticut.

Tamera Young led all scorers with 23 points for the Aces, while former UConn nemesis A’Ja Wilson added a Double D in her first professional game. The former South Carolina star, drafted No. 1 overall in this year’s draft, had 14 points and 10 boards, while Nia Coffee added 11 for Vegas.

Former South Carolina star A'ja Wilson, the No. 1 pick overall in the 2018
WNBA draft, puts up two of her 14 points in her first professional game.

(Photo by Bill Harper)

The Aces are a new team this season—though not a new franchise. Coached by former Detroit Piston badboy Bill Laimbeer, the Aces are the former San Antonio Stars who, themselves, are the former San Antonio Silver Stars and Utah Starzz. They are coached by former Detroit/Tulsa Shock and New York Liberty head coach Bill Laimbeer, who is perhaps best known as a member of the Detroit Piston “bad boys,” a group that included the likes of Hartford native Ricky Mahorn, Isiah Thomas (no relation to Lakers point guard Isaiah Thomas), Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars. A bruising player (Celtics fans would use another word, of course), Laimbeer has established himself as a leading women's b’sketball coach, but on this day, at least, it is unlikely that it would have made much of a difference if he had the services of Mahorn, Rodman, Thomas et al. at his avail.

Fueled by an early 14-2 run, the Aces led 14-4 in the game’s first four minutes. But the Sun rebounded quickly and took a 25-21 lead at the first turn. That four-point advantage grew to 12 at intermission, and the Sun never looked back.

Every player on the Connecticut roster scored. Indeed, the Sun were particularly effective from beyond the arc, hitting on 11 of 21 shots from downtown.

“Every journey has a starting point and that was our starting point,” said Miller. “We really appreciate the crowd tonight. The support from around the state for the ‘Orange Invasion’ to turn a lot of public places orange last night was greatly appreciated. Shout out to the crowd… it really gave us a lot of energy with a lot of fun things here on opening night.”

Miller was particularly proud of the way his team responded to adversity, when the Aces tested the Sun early. “We didn't face a lot of adversity in the three exhibition games, so to take that punch early by Las Vegas and stay composed and stay to what we think is important with the way we play,” he continued. “We just grinded back into the game which was good for us. We didn't face a lot of deficits in the exhibitions. I’m proud of their composure there early, they took that early punch and did a lot of good things.”

“We have a long way to go and we know that,” added Laimbeer. “[The Sun] are a very good basketball team, and we knew we were going to be in a hornet’s nest. We lack shooters, shooting 26 percent is not going to cut it, and we have to find a solution.”

Up next for the Sun will be the Los Angeles Sparks, featuring Ogwumike’s sister, Nneka, former Tennessee star Candace Parker, and former Rutgers star Cappie Pondexter, on Thursday. Tip-off at the Mohegan Sun Arena will be at 7 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. 

Connecticut will finish a season-opening three-game homestand next Saturday night vs. the Indiana Fever. For a complete season schedule, click HERE, and for ticket information, click HERE.

Sun Spots:

• The 36-point margin of victory represented the largest for any season opener in WNBA history.
• The 101 points scored by the Sun is the most points scored by the franchise since June 10, 2017 when Connecticut recorded 104 points against the Atlanta Dream.
• Forward Alyssa Thomas opened the Connecticut Sun season with her first career double-double (13 points, 17 rebounds) to go along with three blocked shots.
• Sun guard Jasmine Thomas finished with 12 points in the 2018 season opener.  The guard also tallied six assists and two blocked shots.
• In Chiney Ogwumike’s first game since May 7, 2016, the Stanford All-American and former No. 1 overall pick scored nine points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field.
• Rookie Lexi Brown made her Connecticut Sun debut and finished with five points and four assists.  The first points of her career came on a three-pointer at 6:58 in the fourth quarter.
• Las Vegas Aces rookie A’ja Wilson finished her first game with a double-double. The former South Carolina star popped in 14 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Aces.

—with staff reports