Sun Stop Mystics for Second Straight Win

By Bob Phillips

Photos by Bill Harper

UNCASVILLE—DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points and Alyssa Thomas put up a double-double—14 points and 16 rebounds—to go along with six assists and three steals to help the Connecticut Sun rally from a 12-point deficit to beat the Washington Mystics 80-74 Sunday. Brionna Jones added her own double-double (15 points and 10 boards) for the Sun.

Shakira Austin scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Elena Delle Donne had 19 points and also had 11 boards for the Mystics.

Down by four late in the third period, Tyasha Harris hit a 3-pointer to close out the quarter and pull the Sun within a point. A put-back by Jones early in the fourth stanza gave the Sun their first lead of the game before Rebecca Allen hit a trey to cap a 13-2 Connecticut run to stake the Sun to a 67-60 advantage with just under 6 minutes left in the game, and Connecticut never looked back.

Delle Donne, a two-time WNBA MVP, missed a clean look in the paint that would have made it a one-possession game with 37 seconds left in the contest before fouling out out about 10 seconds later.

Delle Donne, the former UConn nemesis who once committed to play for the Huskies before changing her mind and heading home to become an All-American at Delaware, made a layup to spark a 10-0 run. That spurt gave Washington a 14-3 lead and was capped with a pull-up jumper by Delle Donne midway through the opening period. The Mystics then led for most of the way—until Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the lane to out the Sun up, 59-58, with eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Referee Kelly Broomfield limped off the court in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury and did not return, leaving just two officials the rest of the game.

White challenged a foul called on Olivia Nelson-Ododa early in the fourth quarter and won, but the foul was instead assessed to Jones, her fourth personal. Jones, who picked up her third foul with 5:32 left in the first half, fouled out for the second time this season with 17 seconds left.

Sun skipper Stefanie White—who last coached in the WNBA with Indiana from 2015-16 and helped the Fever to back-to-back playoff berths including a trip to the 2015 WNBA Finals—replaced Curt Miller as the Sun’s coach in November. Miller, the former head coach and GM for the Sun, has moved cross-country and is now top dog with the Los Angeles Sparks. In addition, four-time All-Star and 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones—who led the Sun to back-to-back Finals appearances and three straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals—forced a trade in the offseason to the Connecticut’s No. 1 rival, the New York Liberty, giving the Sun roster a virtually complete makeover.

With the win, Connecticut improved to 2-0 on the young season while Washington fell to 1-1. The Sun opened the 2023 season with a 70-61 win over the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday. The Sun and Mystics will go at it again on Tuesday at Entertainment and Sports Arena in our nation’s capital. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on NBC Sports Washington/Monumental Sports in the metro D.C. market and on NECN in New England.