Sun Cruise To 93-87 Win Over Dallas

Alyssa Thomas had a game- and season-high
23-point effort to lead the Sun over the Dallas
Wings. (Photo by Bill Harper)

By Bob Phillips

UNCASVILLE–Alyssa Thomas had a season-high 23 points to goa along with seven rebounds and five assists, while Jonquel “Double-D” Jones finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds—her 18th double-double of the season—to lead the Connecticut Sun over the Dallas Wings, 93-87, before 6,465 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday night.

Jasmine Thomas added 17 points and four assists while Shekinna Stricklen went bang-bang from downtown, putting down three of six from beyond the arc, totaling 14 points for the Sun, who improved to 20-10. It was the fourth time Alyssa Thomas has scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Sin addition, she has put double digits on the board for 11 straight games.

The game was a tightly-contested affair, with 20 lead changes and six ties in the first half alone.

Up by three, 69-66 at the third turn, the Sun opened the fourth period with a 14-4 run to open an 83-70 lead with 3:51 remaining in regulation.

But the game wasn’t over just yet. Indeed, Dallas rallied to within four points twice in the final seconds, but the Sun ultimately won the game from the charity stripe with Jasmine Thomas and Stricklen knocking down six straight free throws in the game’s waning moments.

Skylar Diggins-Smith led five Dallas players in double digits with 19 points (and six assists), while Allisha Gray, with 18 points, and Theresa Plaisance (17 points, seven rebounds) also had huge games for the Wings. It was the 15thh time this season that Diggins-Smith, the former UConn nemesis from Notre Dame, has led the Wings in scoring. Kayla Thomas scored eight points and grabbed a career-high nine boards for Dallas.

The Sun won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Dallas 41-35. This was the second straight game, and the 10th time this season, that Connecticut has grabbed 40 or more boards. The Sun are 8-2 in those games.

With the win, the Sun have won 20 games in a season for the first time since 2012, and are assured of no lower than a fifth seed in the WNBA playoffs. Under the league’s new postseason format, the first and second place teams earn byes in the first two rounds of the postseason, while the third and fourth seeds earn first-round byes.

“We understand the importance of moving up in the rankings,” Jones said. “If we can get that second spot, the first spot, whatever spot is better… we want that because it guarantees us a semifinal. We are just working towards that.”

Jones went on to say that Wednesday’s game was not pretty.

“It was definitely an ugly one,” said the 6-6 forward from George Washington. “But at the end of the day, a win is a win.”

The Wings, who fell to 14-17, had their work cut out for them from the beginning having to face the third-ranked team in the league on the road… and playing without the services of their second-leading scorer, Glory Johnson. The former Tennessee star was serving a one-game suspension for throwing a punch at Atlanta Dream guard Matee Ajavon.

“Glory is always missed, but when one person is not there someone has to step up and I thought Kayla Thornton had a real aggressive game at both ends of the floor,” said Wings forward Karima Christmas-Kelly. “Everybody has to pick each other up when we are missing that piece. I think we just need to focus a little bit more on defense. We let a few offensive rebounds get away from us, those loose balls and hustle plays, we just need to buckle down and get those down the stretch.”

Dallas is involved in a tooth-in-nail race with Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago and Atlanta for the three remaining playoff spots.

Bring on the Sky!

There is no rest for the weary, as the Sun must quickly turn around and play their final home game of the regular season on Friday night when they entertain former UConn darling Stefanie Dolson and the Chicago Sky on Fan Appreciation Night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m., and tickets are available at the Mohegan Sun box office, or by clicking HERE.

—Colleen White contributed to this report