By DJ Harding
On Sunday afternoon on ABC the Connecticut Sun faced the Phoenix Mercury in what was a battle of All-Stars.
Connecticut played their third straight home game splitting the last two beating the Atlanta Dream last Sunday and then losing to the New York Liberty on Wednesday.
Both the Sun and the Mercury have three All-Stars traveling to Phoenix for the WNBA All-Star Game. Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner, and Diana Taurasi will all be on team USA joining Alyssa Thomas. Meanwhile DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones will be on team WNBA.
I asked coach Stephanie White pregame spoke on stopping the three olympians on the Phoenix Mercury roster “Make sure we guard the three point line and don’t let them get hot.” Coach White told me. Coach White then added “Make them hit tough shots.”
For Phoenix’s big three Copper ended the night with 17 points along with six rebounds and five assists, Griner scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Taurasi finished with six points while having six rebounds as well.
The Sun’s big three saw Bonner have 17 points, Jones put up 16 points and eight rebounds and Thomas posting numbers of six points five rebounds and three assists.
Coach White also pregame mentioned what they have to do on defense as a team saying “We have to have a high attention to detail and work efficiently on the defense end.”
The first quarter was neck and neck with the game being tied at 20 points a piece, Copper had 10 of her 17 points in the first quarter while Bonner had nine of her 17 as well.
Going into halftime the Sun would gain a slim six point lead behind a three point outburst from Rachel Banham would hit four shots from downtown giving her 12 points.
Banham led all scorers with 24 points shooting 8-11 from three. Banham made WNBA History with those eight three-pointers off the bench making the most by a player off the bench in a game.
Photo Credit Tammy McManaway
Banham postgame spoke to her record setting performance telling the media “I have been waiting for this, my teammates know I have been frustrated and struggling with my shot recently, but it feels good and I was confident and ready.”
The third quarter saw Connecticut’s lead expand as they outscored Phoenix 19-9 going up which was capped off by Bonner hitting a fadeaway jumper to end the quarter.
After three quarters of play Dijonai Carrington had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Carrington had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win along with four assists.
The Sun would then close out the Mercury in the final quarter going on to win 96-69 behind a 29-18 outscoring of Phoenix in the fourth.
Connecticut in their final home game before the Olympic break had a near 30 point win.
Post game I asked Carrington about guarding Copper as she had 10 points in the first quarter and only seven points the rest of the game.
Carrington told me “For some reason I always start slow and after the first quarter I locked in and I took it personally when she had 10. As a defensive player I take pride in my defense and when I look at the scoreboard I don’t look at my stats I look at whoever I’m guarding.”
Photo Credit Tammy McManaway
Carrington also mentioned “making it tough for Copper is important as she’s a big part of their offense so can’t make it easy for her.”
Coach White postgame gave a statement to the media on the win
The Connecticut Sun will hit the road for their final game before the olympic break facing the New York Liberty in what will be a battle of first and second place in the WNBA.
Connecticut is now 18-5 after the win and New York holds a 20-4 record.
Tuesday both teams will face off in the Big Apple with Tip-Off scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.