UNCASVILLE —
Alyssa Thomas
walked toward the tunnel to exit Mohegan Sun Arena Wednesday night with a win officially secured.
A
Connecticut Sun
fan called out to the star, “AT! AT!”
Thomas stopped in front of the tunnel’s entrance and leaned against the bleachers’ railings as the fan, wearing a No. 25 Thomas Connecticut Sun jersey, crowned Thomas with a paper crown.
Even though the WNBA’s triple-double queen now wears an opposing team’s jersey, she remains royalty in Uncasville.
On Wednesday, in the first meeting between the new-look Sun and Thomas’ Phoenix Mercury, Connecticut failed to stop its former star.
The Sun’s 83-75 loss to Phoenix marked the first time it lost a regular-season home game to the Mercury since 2015. The Sun have also now tied the franchise record for the worst 12-game start to a season, dropping to 2-10 (they were also 2-10 in 2016 during now-general manager
UConn women’s basketball
star Morgan Tuck’s rookie season as a forward with the Sun). Last year, with Thomas as its star, Connecticut started 11-1.
Thomas finished two rebounds shy of her signature triple-double stat line with 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. The Sun’s all-time assist leader recorded her fourth-straight game with 10 or more assists, marking the first of such a stretch in Phoenix Mercury history and in her career.
Whether it was Phoenix’s strong defense or the Sun’s lack of rest from its first back-to-back games of the summer, Connecticut couldn’t get over its poor start to the game after trailing 22-9 in the first quarter.
“It’s a bit frustrating because I think there was the space to win this game, but we didn’t win,” head coach Rachid Meziane said.
While Phoenix led by as much as 19 early, Connecticut’s young stars kept the team fighting for the remainder of the game. Rookie Aneesah Morrow finished with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds, while former UConn standout Olivia Nelson-Ododa had a career-high 14 rebounds and 10 points. Thanks to the duo’s late-game surges, Connecticut outscored Phoenix 66-61 in the final 30 minutes, despite not being able to seal the deal.
Wednesday’s game concluded the Sun’s first of three back-to-back games this season following
the team’s 88-71 loss at Indiana Tuesday night
. Connecticut only gets a day’s rest before hosting
Paige
Bueckers
and the Dallas Wings Friday and traveling across the country to play at Golden State on Sunday.
“I think that, especially coming off the back-to-back, that’s hard to do,” said guard Jacy Sheldon (13 points) on the team’s ability to fight back with Phoenix. “You saw us fight there, and honestly, the whole second half, fight back into that game. Just came up short. And I think the key to that is starting better. But when we put our 100% effort in, I think we can compete with anybody.”
Phoenix’s defense was too much, too soon for Connecticut. The Mercury players pressured hard and switched on screens with ease. Six-foot-4 Satou Sabally and Thomas prevented any Sun player from getting into the lane with their length and physicality, forcing the Sun to move the ball around until something opened.
Connecticut started the game 1-of-10 from the floor. Phoenix, meanwhile, used an early 8-0 run to grab the lead. The Sun didn’t make their first field goal until the 6:23 mark in the first quarter as the Mercury quickly built a double-digit lead.
The Sun got their offense going in the second quarter by shifting their focus to the outside. Connecticut went 4-of-9 from the 3-point line and began trimming the Mercury’s lead.
Sheldon scored all 13 of her points in the second quarter, including draining three 3-pointers. Marina Mabrey was fouled on her second attempt from deep and made all three free throws to shrink Phoenix’s once 19-point lead down to single digits. Mabrey picked off Thomas with two minutes left in the half and assisted Sheldon on a fastbreak layup to get the Sun within five points.
“I think when we get stops and get into transition, I think that’s what we like to do, and that’s what was working for us in the first half,” Sheldon said. “So, our key was just trying to continue to get stops and against a really good team like this, that’s a hard thing to do.”
Morrow scored eight points in the first eight minutes of the third quarter to get the score back within single digits after Phoenix finished the first half on a 9-2 run. The former LSU All-American kept at it, crashing the boards for layups and making clutch floaters. Nelson-Ododa held down the paint and challenged Sabally and Thomas for rebounds. The former UConn standout used her length to reach in and demand space under the basket.
But every time the Sun got hot, the Mercury extinguished their flame just as quickly to walk away with a third-straight win and move to 9-4. Despite the loss, Meziane said he’s impressed with his team for how they stayed fighting.
“We are not a favorite, and so I think that how we compete against this team, it’s a good step up for us,” Meziane said. “So, I will be optimistic for the next game, because if we are capable of playing like that, I’m sure that the next game can be more positive for us. … If I look, you know, two weeks ago, I don’t think that we were capable to challenge this team. So I hope that what we showed, what we have shown, we showed today, it means that we are on a good path.”
