Sun Hold On, Spank Sparks for Second Time in Week

By Bob Phillips

Jonquel Jones hauls down a rebound last night in the Connecticut
Sun's 89-77 win over the LA Sparks last night in Uncasville.

UNCASVILLE—Chiney Ogwumike’s return to Connecticut turned out to be not what she had hoped it would be. Although the Ogwumike sisters teamed up for 40 points (Nneka with 21, Chiney with 19), the Connecticut Sun defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, 89-77, before 5,496 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday night. All five Connecticut starters scored in double digits.

The Sun raced out to an early lead and held a 12-point advantage, 23-11, at the first turn. By halftime, the Sparks were only able to nibble into the Connecticut lead by a point as the Sun led 43-32 at intermission. Courtney Williams led89-77 the way with 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Sun lead grew to 21 points with 3:33 left in the third period, but the Sparks came charging back, cutting the lead to just four, 81-77, with 1:16 remaining in regulation. But the Sun defense kicked in and shut down the Sparks the rest of the way. Connecticut ended the game on an 8-0 run to slam the door shut on their West Coast visitors.

All five Connecticut starters scored in double digits. Jonquel Jones (J.J.) led the Sun with 18 points, while Alyssa Thomas put up a double-double with an 11-point, 12-rebound effort, and added six assists for good measure. Jasmine Thomas chipped in with 17 points and was masterful on defense. The 5-9 point guard picked the Sparks’ pocket six times. Williams finished with 15 points, and Shekinna Stricklen finished with 10 to conclude the Connecticut double-digit parade. J.J. also blocked five Los Angeles shots.

J.J. gave Connecticut a 21-point lead with 3:22 left in the third quarter, but Los Angeles pulled within 81-77 after Nneka Ogwumike secured a loose ball under the basket and put it in. She stole it at the other end but after the Sparks threw it out of bounds, Thomas scored in the paint with 34.8 seconds left to stake Connecticut to a six-point lead.

As usual, the Ogwumike sisters led the way for LA with Nneka scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 boards, and Chiney chipping in with 19. Chiney was lights out from the floor, with nine of her 11 shots dropping through the net (81.8 percent shooting). Marina Mabrey added 14 for the Sparks, who fell to 2-2.

Chiney Ogwumike only missed two shots in her first game as an opponent at Mohegan Sun Arena after spending three seasons with the Sun. Chelsea Gray, coming off a career-best 29 points on Tuesday, scored four points with six assists.

With the win, the Sun improved to 4-1, tied with Minnesota for the best record in the WNBA, and avenged their only loss thus far this season, a 77-70 defeat to the Sparks in LA last week.

“Any chance you get to play a team again, especially very recently, it allows you to correct a lot of things that you could do better,” said Jonquel Jones, who, for a change, did not get a double-double. “Personally, we really wanted to get a win.”

While the Sparks are led by the Ogwumike sisters, the third cog in the LA offense is point guard Chelsea Gray. Last week, she scored 16 points, dished out four assists and grabbed four rebounds in the Sparks’ victory over the Sun, and followed that up with a career-best 29 points against the New York Liberty at Westchester County Center. Last night, however, she was limited to four points and one rebound. And while she did have six assists, they were more than offset by eight turnovers.

"Jasmine [Thomas] and everyone really did a good job of making sure we had eyes on her and limited the way she scored on us last time," said J.J.

Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller was lavish in his praise for his team.

"They were tremendously competitive and worked so hard tonight,” said Miller after the game. “We weren't perfect tonight. We made some mistakes. Certainly 17 turnovers is high for us, but they are working so hard right now. That starting group, this is their fourth year together. They are finding ways to win with their defense and that has not been the case for the past three years.”

That defense instills confidence in both the coach and his players.

“There was a challenge to see how we were going to respond to Chelsea Gray tonight and we held her to one bucket and eight turnovers,” continued Miller. “That is team effort, but Jas [Jasmine Thomas] gets that assignment a lot but you can see tonight why. She is an All-Defensive Team performer.”

Next up for the Sun is a trip to Atlanta to take on Jessica Breland and the 1-3 Dream. Tip-off is at 3 p.m., and the game will be streamed on WNBA League Pass and televised on WCCT/CW20. It is one of three games that have been added to the CW20 schedule this season. The others are Sun., Aug. 4, vs. the NY Liberty, and the final game of the regular season vs. the Indiana Fever on Sept. 8 at 4.pm.

The Sun return home on Tuesday to entertain the Washington Mystics. Tip-off at the Mohegan Sun Arena will be at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office or via Ticketmaster by clicking HERE.

—with staff reports

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