Photo Credit Tammy McManaway
By DJ Harding
The Connecticut Sun faced the Washington Mystics Sunday afternoon for a marquee matchup between the third and fourth seeded teams.
Connecticut has fallen to the three seed with a record of 13-5 after sitting second for most of the season. Washington meanwhile is sitting in fourth with a record of 10-7 going into tonight.
Pregame Coach White commented on the All-Star game coming up this Saturday when she’ll be coaching against DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas. This happened yesterday during the All-Star Game draft between the team captains A’Ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
“I’m frustrated” Coach White said jokingly “Obviously I wanted everyone to be on the same team, but I’m excited to coach the players I have. I admire a lot of players in this league and their hard work and dedication.”
When it came to this matchup Natisha Hiedman and Tyasha Harris had the same mindset as Coach White saying every opponent is tough and it’s hard to win in this league.
That statement rang true as after one quarter the score was 18-16 with the Sun leading by two. Alyssa Thomas and Tianna Hawkins each led their team with 8 points in the first.
Thomas ended the night with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Despite not getting a Double-Double or Triple-Double Thomas still leads the league in both with 13 Double-Doubles and 3 Triple-Doubles.
“She’s having a MVP Caliber year.” Coach White said postgame.
Hawkins meanwhile had 24 points which lead the Mystics.
The Sun grew their lead a little by halftime, growing the lead to five with a score of 46-41. Connecticut was behind at one point during the second but went on a run that was capped off by a DeWanna Bonner halftime buzzer beating three pointer.
Bonner led all scorers at halftime with 15 points while Brittney Sykes led the Mystics with 11 points.
Bonner scored 28 leading all scorers. Bonner also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and hit 6 three pointers. Those 6 three pointers tied Bonner’s career high for three pointers in a game.
Sykes finished the night with 14 points and 7 assists.
Quarter number two was also the quarter of injuries with Elena Della Donne tweaking her ankle and exiting the game. Natisha Hiedeman took a hard fall in the second and after starting the third quarter Hiedman quickly subbed out and did not return.
Della Donne who was voted an All-Star and selected to team Wilson with Bonner and Thomas scored 0 points in 13 minutes of play.
Hiedeman had 4 points and 2 rebounds before exiting the game.
Coach White Postgame comments “I don’t know exactly what happened, she’s also dealing with a hit from a couple weeks ago.”
After the third quarter the Mystics held a one point lead up 66-65. The lead was at four points before Tyasha Harris hit a buzzer beating three pointer. Harris and Dijonia Carrington were close to double figures after the third Harris had 8 points while Carrington had 9.
Harris reached double figures by the end of the game with 10 points. Harris played more minutes with Hiedeman leaving the game.
“That’s the luxury of having a great backup point guard.” Coach White said, talking about Harris.
Carrington didn’t reach double figures after not scoring in the fourth quarter and ended the win with those same 9 points.
For the Mystics after three quarters Queen Egbo joined Sykes and Hawkins in double figures, having 11 points through three quarters.
Egbo had 14 points in the loss. Egbo added 3 rebounds and 1 assists.
Connecticut outscored Washington 27-18 to win 92-84. Bonner and Thomas combined for 50 points each scoring 20 plus points. Tyasha Harris with her 10 points and Tiffany Hayes with 10 points joined Bonner and Thomas in double figures.
Coach Stephanie White postgame speaking on the win said “it wasn’t pretty but we got the win.”
Connecticut takes the two straight wins at home and plays one more on the road before the All-Star Break.
The Sun face the Chicago Sky on Wednesday with tip-off scheduled for 12:00 PM.