Sports: Sun hold off Liberty 94-89 at Madison Square Garden for fifth straight win

After watching 21-point lead disappear in fourth, Connecticut responds with six straight points

New York — It was looking like the same old, same old for the Connecticut Sun on Friday night — build a lead, lose the game late.

Connecticut led the New York Liberty by 21 points in the third quarter. It wasn't big enough as the Liberty went off in the fourth quarter, playing Ali to the Sun's Foreman.

It looked bad, then, really bad, when New York's Shavonte Zellous tied the game at 86 with a layup with one minute, 6 seconds left.

This time, the Sun didn't blink. They scored the next six points and held on for a 94-89 win before 10,240 at Madison Square Garden.

"Our kids stuck together," Sun head coach Curt Miller said. "We know that we lost some games really early in the season in the fourth quarter."

It's the fifth straight win for Connecticut (6-5) and its sixth in seven games. This after it started 0-4 and lost three games by two points.

"We never want to put ourselves in situations where we have to come back," Connecticut's Courtney Williams said. "I think (this) showed our growth and maturity; that we can pull these games out and withstand a run and punch back."

Williams was one of the Sun who punched back late as she scored six of her 14 points in the final 2:15.

Williams made a 10-foot jumper to give Sun an 88-86 lead with 54.3 seconds left. The 5-foot-7 guard then rebounded Epiphanny Prince's miss in a crowd full of posts.

Moments later, Jasmine Thomas nailed a 3-pointer to push Connecticut ahead, 91-86, with 24.4 remaining.

"You've got to give tons of credit to New York," Miller said. "What an unbelievable fourth quarter (a 32-23 Liberty edge). I felt like they scored

scored on every single possession.

"We took a couple of haymakers in that fourth quarter. (New York) just played fantastic. We found a way to the finish line. Courtney made a couple of big shots. We played unselfish and didn't try to do it ourselves. (Williams had that) kick-out to Jasmine. Jasmine has that back-breaking three. That's what we didn't do earlier in the season, making that extra pass pass in those tough situations. "I'm really proud of them." It was Connecticut's first win at Madison Square Garden since June 13, 2014 (78-68). It's also 4-3 on the road.

Thomas was one of five players to score in double figures for the Sun. She had a gamehigh 23 points with five assists and two steals.

Second-year post Jonquel Jones had 21 points and seven rebounds and Alyssa Thomas had 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Shekinna Stricklen added 13 points and four rebounds.

Tina Charles scored 11 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter with 11 rebounds and six assists for New York (7-5). Zellous scored 18 and Prince 14.

Connecticut led almost the entire game and used the 3-pointer to build its lead. Its first five made shots were all 3-pointers to give it a 15-12 lead with 3:53 left in the first quarter. The Sun made 12 of 24 3-pointers. Connecticut led by 11 points midway through the third quarter when Jasmine Thomas grabbed a miss by Kia Vaughn and sprinted down the floor in six seconds. She was fouled by Charles on a missed layup and made the second free throw.

Alex Bentley (nine points) followed with a steal and layup and a 19-foot jumper.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jones and Jasmine Thomas pushed the Sun ahead 68-48, with 2:26 left in the quarter.

Bentley's two free throws gave the Sun their largest lead, 70-49, with 1:59 remaining in the third. n.griffen@theday.com