Sun hope they’re not road weary
Loss to Lynx breaks seven-game winning streak; Connecticut gets back at it today in Las Vegas
Minneapolis — The Connecticut Sun's seven-game winning streak ended with a thud on Friday night.
Sylvia Fowles had 17 points and 12 rebounds and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Sun 89-57. Connecticut's win streak, its longest since 2006, dated back to a July 10 loss to Atlanta.
"They took us behind the woodshed from start to finish,'' said Sun coach Curt Miller. "I took ownership in there but we got outplayed and they were more physical. The intensity from the beginning was impressive, but I also got out-coached.
"Even when we were down by 30, they were attacking our defensive schemes better than we were making defensive adjustments.''
The Sun, now tied for first place with the Washington Mystics at 167, continue their four-game road trip with a 6 p.m. game Sunday vs. the Las Vegas Aces at the Mandalay Bay Events Center (ESPN2).
The Aces (15-9) have lost three of their last four without injured A'ja Wilson and are coming off an 87-84 loss Friday night to the Chicago Sky. Liz Cambage led the Aces in that game with a season-high 28 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
Against the Sun on Friday, Danielle Robinson and Stephanie Talbot had 14 points each for the Lynx, Odyssey Sims scored 12 points and Damiris Dantas 11. Former UConn star Napheesa Collier added 10 points and eight rebounds and tied her career high with four steals.
Minnesota (12-11), which never trailed, jumped to a 10-4 lead and Robinson and Dantas scored six points apiece during a 17-0 run that made it 36-14 midway through the second quarter. Connecticut (16-7) went 0-for-10 from the field, 0-for-2 from the free-throw line and committed 10 turnovers during that stretch.
"We were different the last time we played Connecticut (74-71 win on July 6), we didn't have Damiris,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "This was obviously her best game since she's been back. Her ability to shoot the ball really spreads it out and we're playing the same team for the third time. We didn't really change anything, but we tweaked things.''
The Lynx set season highs for field goals (36), field goal percentage (.537), 3-point field goal percentage (.500), assists (27) and margin of victory (32) while tying their season marks for 3-pointers made (nine) and points in a quarter (30 in the second).
Bria Holmes led Connecticut with 10 points. The Sun, who were held to the lowest scoring output of the season, shot just 30.9 percent (21 of 68) from the field, made just 5 of 23 from 3-point range and hit 10 of 19 free throws.
"I think we just came out with a lack of energy and we never quite found it, even coming from the bench'' Holmes said. "But we have two more games on the road, so we'll have time to regroup and get together and talk about what we did wrong, good things that we did and just get ready for the next game.''
"Yeah, we want to bounce back but also definitely come out with better intensity," Connecticut's Jonquel Jones said. "These are tough road games, nobody's going to come out and give us anything, so we need to be a little more locked in."