Sports: Sun rally in second half for important WNBA victory over Las Vegas
Connecticut Sun have plenty of reasons to lose, but keep winning, nevertheless
Mohegan — It is customary for Sun coach Curt Miller to sit on the team bench an hour or so before tipoff and chat with the media. Miller flashed a wry grin at the most popular question Friday night.
“So, coach, what happens if Jazz gets in foul trouble?”
The question alluded to the Sun's dearth of depth, given the injuries to reserve point guards Rachel Banham (ankle) and Natisha Hiedeman (turf toe). And this was the wrong game for starter Jasmine Thomas to sustain an injury or foul trouble.
It turned out that Jasmine Thomas was virtually the only one not in foul trouble. And despite a hundred reasons why they could have lost, the Sun won their best game of the season, crawling over broken glass to defeat Las Vegas 89-85 before a frantic crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Sun (20-8) won the season tiebreaker over third-place Vegas (19-10). It was the Sun's fourth straight win and eighth straight at home. They've won twenty games for the third straight season under Miller.
Alyssa Thomas, who played every minute, led the Sun with 27 points. Courtney Williams, whose shot with 10.2 seconds left sealed it, had 24.
Liz Cambage led Vegas with 18. A'ja Wilson had 17 and Dearica Hamby 14.
Alyssa Thomas scored 13 points alone in the third period as the Sun overcame a nine-point deficit to take a 72-70 lead heading to the fourth. Connecticut held Las Vegas without a point for more than five minutes in the quarter.
The Sun led 36-32 midway through the second period before Vegas finished the half on a 24-11 run. Hamby came off the bench to score 12 for the Aces. Williams had 12 in the half for the Sun while Alyssa Thomas had 10.
Cambage and Wilson ended the half with two fouls apiece as well.
It was among the most eventful first quarters of the season. Connecticut hit 10 of its first 17 shots and led by as many as 11. Except that foul trouble exacerbated depth issues. Jones and Plaisance had two fouls apiece in the first seven minutes. Stricklen followed with her second foul with 1:06 left in the quarter.
Miller was issued a technical foul with 48.7 left, much to the chagrin of the crowd. Miller even walked over to the press table to offer his view of the officiating to that point in the game.