By DJ Harding-
The Connecticut Sun had what some would say their toughest test yet as the New York Liberty came to town as part of Commissioner Cup action. Both teams are undefeated in the Cup thus far with the Sun 2-0 and the Liberty 3-0. The Sun look to stay undefeated overall having a 9-0 record on the season.
It’s was also the Connecticut Suns pride night which gave the games some festivities and celebration to go along with the high stakes of the game.
Coach Stephanie White pregame spoke on the Liberty as a team and said “They were in the Finals last year and that’s where we want to be.”
Coach White also spoke about the multiple reports saying Alyssa Thomas is going to be selected to team USA. Coach White said “She (Thomas) has earned the right and we are hopeful it’s true when we get the official announcement.” White then continued saying “But she (Thomas) would probably say the same I say which is right now it’s about New York.”
Thomas in the game was three assists shy of a triple double dishing out seven assists, grabbing a game high 12 rebounds and scoring 10 points.
Coach White then spoke on the topic of the slow start the Sun have been experiencing during 9-0 stretch Coach told the media “Can’t quite put our finger on why that is but we can’t have a slow start today.”
Unfortunately for Coach White Connecticut once again had a slow start going down 11-2 to begin the game. The Sun found themselves down 28-18 after the first quarter. Sabrina Ionescu led all scorers with 10 points to this point while Dijonai Carrington led the sun with six points.
Ionescu finished with 24 points and dished out five assists, while Carrington ended with 12 points and four rebounds.
Coach White was asked again about the slow starts postgame. Coach White responded with “I wish I knew.”
The Sun would come back with a vengeance to start the second quarter opening the quarter on a 12-2 run to tie the score at 30 and by halftime it would remain tied up at 39. DeWanna Bonner (12 points) and Tiffany Mitchell (10 points) both crossed double figures for the Sun.
Bonner scored 16 points which led the Sun at the end of the game and grabbed eight rebounds.
And Mitchell had 12 points which was the most by a player off the bench in the game.
The game would stay close through three quarters as Connecticut held a very slim three point lead. With the score at 60-57 Brionna Jones achieved double figures with 11 points, for New York Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones also passed the 10 points mark as Stewart had 10 points exactly and Jones had 13 points.
Brionna Jones finished with 13 points in the loss.
Stewart would score 13 points and snatched seven rebounds and Jonquel Jones ended with 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Liberty would regain the lead and down the stretch hold their ground to gain the 82-75 win.
By the end of the game Tyasha Harris scored 11 points crossing the double figure mark as well as Betnijah Laney-Hamilton who scored 10 points. Laney Hamilton grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists in the win.
Postgame Coach White commented on the game saying “
Coach White then said “When you play great teams it has to be 40 minutes of consistency.”
Coach White also said “We go back and watch film and move on.”
Carrington said postgame “we just need to work on getting the flow on offense but it’s only been 10 games we will figure it out.”
The Sun will get a chance to figure it out and get back in the win column on Monday versus the Indiana Fever.
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