Sun-Sky Preview
While it's uncertain if the Connecticut Sun have truly turned a corner on their season, things are looking much better for the club than they did a week ago. The Sun aim for a third consecutive victory while trying to avenge a weekend defeat to the Chicago Sky on Friday night at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Connecticut (3-6), the WNBA runner-up in 2019, opened this season with five straight defeats. Since, though, the Sun have won three of four - including back-to-back games for the first time in 2020, following Wednesday's 70-66 victory over Dallas. DeWanna Bonner had 18 points and Alyssa Thomas (15.6 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game) scored 17 as the Sun overcame a nine-point halftime deficit by outscoring Dallas 45-32 over the final two quarters. Bonner's driving layup with 10.8 seconds left in the game helped seal the deal for a Connecticut squad that overcame a 37.5-percent shooting night to prevail. "It's a big step in the right direction," Bonner, the team's leading scorer at 18.7 points per game, said via the Sun's official Facebook page. "Maybe five or six games ago, we would not have had this result (in rallying then holding off Dallas). "(Wednesday) night we showed a lot of fight. Showed a lot of heart." The Sun hope to keep their current run of success going against Chicago (6-3), the only team to beat them over their last four contests. Allie Quigley had 22 points and Cheyenne Parker scored 20 (12 of 12 from the free-throw line) as the Sky shot 55.2 percent during a 100-93 win over the Sun on Saturday. Jasmine Thomas (11.7 ppg, 4.7 assists per game) had 22 points with six assists and five steals against Chicago for Connecticut, which shot 55.6 percent and 7 of 14 from 3-point range. However, the Sun tuned the ball over 19 times. That kind of effort is one example of why the Sky feel they've taken a major step in their second season under coach James Wade. And one that makes them a potentially serious WNBA title contender. "(This season), we already knew who we were from the jump," Quigley told the Sky's official website. Quigley (14.4 ppg) was back at again Wednesday, scoring 20 in Chicago's 89-71 win over Phoenix. While the Sky went a dismal 1 of 11 from beyond the 3-point arc, they shot 54.5 percent overall against the Mercury. |