Atlanta inflicts third defeat on Connecticut in four games

Connecticut’s positive record after its 13-1 start to the season is starting to fade. The Sun has lost three of its last four games after a 78-74 loss to the Atlanta Dream in front of more than 7,000 fans Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the Sun the last two weeks. Connecticut traveled to Las Vegas and Seattle and lost tough games. The Sun had leads in both, but the host teams blew them away.

After a 94-91 overtime victory over Washington on Thursday, the Sun played their first back-to-back games of the season.

It won’t get any easier, either. The Sun return to the West to face Phoenix on Monday night, then face Minnesota next Thursday in Minneapolis before returning to Connecticut for three games to close out the first half of the season before the Olympic break.

The opportunity to win was there on Friday against Atlanta. The match was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands 16 times. The Sun had a two-point lead with 3:41 to play and cut the lead to one point with 2:09 to play but couldn’t get over the hump.

“We had some opportunities and some plays here and there, some turnovers, some missed executions,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “And Atlanta made plays and made shots when they needed to, especially in the second half and down the stretch.”

Atlanta’s Alisha Gray made some big plays in the final two minutes. She hit a clean 17-foot jumper with 1:44 left in the game to extend Atlanta’s one-point lead to three points, 70-67.

At the other end, she blocked a three-point attempt by Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington, sparking a break the other way for the Dream (7-9). Jordin Canada made two three-pointers and the lead was five points, 72-67, with 1:18 left.

Atlanta led by three, 74-71 with 38 seconds left after Bonner made two foul shots. The Sun had a chance to tie it, but Ty Harris’ three-pointer hit the front of the rim and into the hands of a Dream defender.

“When you play the second half of back-to-back games, execution is everything and they did a better job of executing in that second half,” White said.

Gray led the Dream with 17 points while former Sun MVP and No. 1 overall draft pick Tina Charles had 14 points.

Bonner led the Sun (14-4) with 17 points, while Carrington scored 15 points, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. She had a career-high three steals. Alyssa Thomas had 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Harris had a tough shooting night, hitting just 2 of 9 from the field for six points.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds and had a steal in 11 minutes off the bench.

The game was tied 19-19 after one quarter, with Alyssa Thomas collecting four rebounds and four assists in ten minutes of action. The Sun outscored the Dream by two, 14-12, in the second quarter to take a two-point advantage, 33-31, into the locker room.

Connecticut was able to take a four-point lead over Atlanta, 62-58, with seven minutes left in the game, but Atlanta finished the game by outscoring Connecticut 20-12 the rest of the way to take the 78-74 victory.

Both teams struggled to take care of the ball, with the Sun losing possession 18 times and the Dream 19 times. Atlanta was, however, able to capitalize more on turnovers, scoring 17 points on Connecticut’s 18 errors, while Connecticut only scored 14 points on Atlanta’s errors.

The Sun’s 23 field goals and 26 rebounds mark a new season low. Connecticut’s starters accounted for 17 of the team’s 18 turnovers.

On Thursday night in Washington, the Sun trailed by 16 points in the game, marking the largest deficit the team has overcome in a victory this season. Washington led Connecticut 82-75 with 2:37 left in regulation, but the Sun finished the fourth quarter scoring seven unanswered points to force overtime.

The final five minutes of play were a fierce battle, but Connecticut managed to hold on, outscoring Washington 12-9 in overtime to claim the victory.

Bonner led the Sun in scoring and finished with his second double-double of the season, scoring 24 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Harris had a career-high 23 points, along with a career-high rebound, one assist and four steals.

Carrington finished the season with a season-high 22 points. She scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half and overtime, including 10 of the Suns’ 12 points in overtime. Carrington finished the season with four three-pointers in the win.

Veronica Burton added some flash coming off the bench with nine points and a season-high five assists. She also drew a crucial offensive foul against Washington’s Julie Vanloo in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime.