Sun figure things out in second half
Outscore Chicago 55-40 to pull away for easy win
Mohegan — The most common phrase used by Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller in the days leading up to Tuesday's game against the Chicago Sky was still fresh in the mind of Jonquel Jones.
"They're the hottest team in the league right now," Jones said. "They're the hot- test team in the league right now. They're the hottest team in the league right now. They're the hottest team in the league right now." The players heard Miller. Wow, did they hear him. The Sun ran wild in the second half of a 93-72 blowout before 5,631 at Mohegan Sun Arena. Every player played. Ten of the 12 scored. Shekinna Stricklen was the only player to log more than 29 minutes.
"That's a team (that) four times in the last six games (has scored) over 90," Miller said. "And until that last shot goes in (a Keisha Hampton 3-pointer with 23.9 seconds left), they were in the sixties."
It was the 12th win in 16 games for Connecticut, which remains tied with the Washington Mystics (both are 139) atop the Eastern Conference and for third place overall in the WNBA standings. The top eight teams qualify, regardless of conference.
The Sun and Mystics have split their two previous meetings, adding importance to Friday's last regular-season meeting at Washington.
Tuesday was as impressive as any win the Sun has had this season.
Forget Chicago's record (8-14) and consider its recent body of work. It had won five of its last six, including wins over the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks (82-80) and the league-leading Minnesota Lynx (10076).
Question: How many teams other than the Sun have beaten Los Angeles and Minnesota this season?
Answer: Chicago. And it's the only team to ravage the Lynx.
Connecticut somehow led a rock fight at halftime (38-32) despite shooting 32.6 percent.
The Sun turned it on in the second half as they made 19 of 31 shots (61.3 percent).
"The second half is a testament to our team being able to persevere through a lot of stuff," said Jones (12 points, 10 rebounds). "It's kind of an example of what we were able to do in the first half of the season in terms of starting off bad and being able to come back. I think our team has just been resilient."
Alyssa Thomas scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half with nine rebounds and five assists for Connecticut.
Jasmine Thomas had 17 points, eight assists and three steals, and Courtney Williams added 17 points and six assists.
Allie Quigley scored 20 for the Sky. Chicago's Courtney Vandersloot had four points and five assists. She averaged 12.6 points and 10.7 assists the previous six games.
"It was a pretty ugly game in stretches both ways," Miller said. "I'm proud of the intensity, the fight that we had. We competed in the second half and showed more Sun basketball. I thought we got throughout the game a lot of contributions from a variety of people.
"I can't speak enough about the little things that Alex Bentley (nine points) did when she was on the floor. She truly guarded some of their players as well as anyone I've seen on tape over the last six games. Bentley was a huge piece to that puzzle."
Jasmine Thomas scored four points and Jones hit a 3-pointer during a 9-2 run to push Connecticut ahead, 65-55, with one minute, 15 sec- onds left in the third quarter.
Bentley's 3-pointer pushed the Sun ahead, 78-57, with over seven minutes left in the game.
Rachel Banham's 3-pointer gave Connecticut its largest lead, 91-67, with 2:03 remaining.
“They are real young, they are active, and they move a lot," Chicago's Jessica Breland said about the Sun. "You can tell they have chemistry. They know each other. They can just throw passes and know they are going to be there.” n.griffen@theday.com