Sports: Sun rally past the Storm, 84-71
Stricklen keys Connecticut’s big fourth quarter outburst
Mohegan — The Connecticut Sun were ew-wwww through three quarters on Tuesday night and trailed the Seattle Storm by 11 points. Connecticut needed a spark. Shekinna Stricklen lit the fuse. A steal and defensive save by Stricklen highlighted a comeback in which the Sun blowtorched Seattle.
Courtney Williams scored 15 of her career-high 27 points as the Sun ran down the Storm, 84-71, before 7,853 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
"Strick, man, she gets out there and she brings the energy," Williams said. "Saving balls, going out-ofbounds (to save them), being that energy, and we feed off of her when she gets going like that."
Connecticut trailed the Storm by as much as 54-41 with two minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Sun shot 78.6-percent (yes) in the fourth quarter and outscored Seattle, 33-9.
"That was an impressive fourth quarter," Sun head coach Curt Miller said. "I wasn't Positive Patty at that moment at the start of the fourth quarter, let's put it that way. I was more Negative Nancy on how tonight's outcome was going go be the way we played early. "They just stuck to it." It was the 15th win in 19 games for Connecticut (169), which is third in the overall WNBA standings. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs, regardless of conference.
And now it can be talked about — the Sun's magic number is two to qualify for the playoffs and snap their four-year drought.
Williams opened the fourth quarter with a 20-foot jumper.
Moments later, Stricklen deflected a pass by the 3-point line on the Sun's side of the court, ran down the ball and flipped it to Rachel Banham as she ran into the television table.
Banham passed ahead to Williams for a layup to cut Connecticut's deficit to 62-55 with 8:28 left. It might as well be the game-winner. "We defend," Williams said. "We talked to one another that now it's time to buckle up and defend because our offense stems of our defense." Stricklen finished with five steals and five rebounds. The Sun's fourth-quarter defense was even more lu-
dicrous than their offense.
Seattle shot 43.6-percent through three quarters.
The Storm shot just 15-percent (3-of20) in the fourth quarter.
"We told each other the fourth quarter is the only one that matters," Williams said, "and we went out there and we just defended."
Miller emphasized that his team keep running because Tuesday was the Storm's third straight road game in five days.
"The ball was kind of sticking," Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas said. "We missed a lot of shots.
"(Our offense) all starts on the defensive end. When we got stops, we were able to get out and run and we really wore Seattle down tonight."
The Storm are 10-16 and tied with the Atlanta Dream for ninth place.
“We got cold at the wrong time," Storm Breanna Stewart said. "I think we came out in the first half and hit them. In the second half, you have to expect a run from a home team. We got good shots, we just didn't make them.”
The Sun also won without All-Star point guard Jasmine Thomas (ankle) and reserve post Lynetta Kizer (back).
Jonquel Jones had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Connecticut and Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Alex Bentley added 12 points.
Williams' 15 fourth-quarter points were just one short of the franchise record set by Nykesha Sales against the Indiana Fever on Aug. 15, 2007.
“She got extremely hot," Seattle coach Jenny Boucek said.
"I thought most of her shots were contested and one of them our player said she even fouled her, so she just got in that zone.”
Stewart had scored 20-or-more points the last 12 games to tie Diana Taurasi's WNBA record.
Stewart, guarded mostly by Alyssa Thomas, missed 12 of 18 shots and had 17 points and six rebounds before fouling out late.
"My strength is my strong point," Thomas said. "I just try to be as physical as I can and know what plays they're calling and get to spots."
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 15 off the bench for Seattle and Sue Bird had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
• Longtime UConn assistant coach Chris Dailey was honored at halftime with the Margo Dydek Award as the Sun's 2017 Woman of Inspiration. Dydek was a former Connecticut All-Star who died unexpectedly at the age of 37 in 2011. The award is given to an outstanding woman who has distinguished herself while positively impacting the local community. n.griffen@theday.com
“That was an impressive fourth quarter. I wasn’t Positive Patty at that moment at the start of the fourth quarter, let’s put it that way. I was more Negative Nancy on how tonight’s outcome was going to be the way we played early. They just stuck to it.”
CURT MILLER, CONNECTICUT SUN COACH