Sun Shine in 27-Point Rout of Liberty

By Bob Phillips

BROOKLYN—DeWanna Bonner led the Connecticut Sun with 16 points—12 coming in the decisive first half—guiding Connecticut to a runaway 92-65 victory before a paltry crowd of 3,054 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night. Natasha Heideman added 15 for the Sun—her benchmark output total for the young season. Brionna Jones chipped in with 14 points, while Jonquel Jones added 13. Alyssa Thomas had 12 points and four steals for the Sun, who earned their second victory of the young season. Courtney Williams, who returned from a two-game suspension, added four for the Sun, who improved to 2-1. It marked the diminutive sparkplug’s return to Connecticut after a two-year run in Atlanta with the Dream.

The Sun did not exactly start the game en fuego, missing their first six shots and committing. The Libs, meanwhile, 10 of the game’s first 12 points. Then, Michaela Onyenwere’s 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining in the first period gave New York a 15-11 lead. But that was as good as it would get for the Liberty. Brionna Jones answered with a layup and Heideman followed with a trey to spark an 18-0 run, and the Sun never looked back.

Betnijah Laney led New York with 16 points. Former UConn star added 13 for the Libs, who dropped their fourth straight game after opening the season with an 81-79 victory over the Sun.

A swarming Connecticut defense forced New York to commit 29 turnovers—tied for second-most in Liberty franchise history. New York set its franchise’s single-game record for miscues with 30 against the Phoenix Mercury in 1998 and had 29 turnovers against the Los Angeles Sparks last season. The Utah Starzz set the WNBA record for single-game turnovers when they coughed up the ball 33 times vs. the Phoenix Mercury on August 17, 1997.

The Liberty have lost four in a row since beating Connecticut 81-79 in the season opener.

The Sun return to action on Friday when the host the x-x Indiana Fever. Tip-off at the Mohegan Sun Arena will be at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on NESN+ and live-streamed on ESPN3 and Facebook.com/IndianaFever. The Libs, meanwhile, are off until next Tuesday when they will travel to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Lynx. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. and will be televised on Bally Sports North Extra and streamed on the YES app.