CT Sun, battling fatigue, drops one to Atlanta Dream, 77-74

UNCASVILLE — The Connecticut Sun, facing a quick turnaround and a rested opponent, lost for the third time in four games, a 77-74 decision to the Atlanta Dream at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night.

Allisha Gray scored 17 points, making key plays late in the game, and UConn’s Tina Charles scored 14 points, with six rebounds, to lead Atlanta (7-9). The Sun (14-4) got 17 points from DeWanna Bonner, 15 from DiJonai Carrington and 14, along with seven assists and seven rebounds, from Alyssa Thomas, but were not as effective defensively as expected. used to seeing him.

Neither team could separate by more than five points during the match. After 16 lead changes and 11 ties, the Dream took control in the final 2 1/2 minutes, with Charles hitting a 15-foot shot and Gray hitting another short shot to make it 70-67. Gray then made a steal on defense, and Jordin Canada finished the sequence with two free throws at the other end of the court to give Atlanta a five-point lead.

Charles made two free throws with 10.3 seconds left, and Canada made two more with 5.8 seconds left to prevent any last-second exploits.

Schedulers did the Sun no favors this week by scheduling them in Washington, where they won in overtime Thursday night. After arriving home around 3 a.m. Friday, they were back in action against Atlanta — a tough turnaround, even with charter flights. The Dream hadn’t played since Sunday.

But the Sun, finding themselves in another fight, used its depth, using nine of 10 available players in the opening minutes, and got engaged, hitting 8 of 16 shots in the first quarter. Tiffany Mitchell’s steal and score and Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s pull-up pull-up pulled Connecticut even at 19 late in the first quarter.

The Sun’s defense took over in the second quarter, limiting the Dream to 5 of 18 shooting, and they took a five-point lead before Gray’s three-pointer cut the score to 33-31 at the end. half-time. Fatigue seemed to set in for Connecticut in the third quarter, with the Dream converting six turnovers into easy baskets, scoring on fast breaks and backdoor cuts, taking a 57-56 lead into the fourth quarter. time, during which there had been 12 lead changes.

Carrington, who warmed up in the second half, hit a three-pointer to put the Sun back in front 61-58 with less than eight minutes left. The game was tied again, 62, with 4:15 left, but Atlanta got the knockout blow.