Sun head north to Seattle after solid victory over Sparks

Los Angeles — DeWanna Bonner had 20 points and nine rebounds, Alyssa Thomas added 16 points, 12 assists and five steals, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Los Angeles Sparks 83-74 on Sunday night.

Brionna Jones scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds for Connecticut (9-3), which rebounded from a 92-88 loss to Atlanta last time out to win for the third time in the last four games.

Thomas moved past Taj McWilliams-Franklin (3,019) into third on the Sun’s career scoring list with 3,027 points, behind Asjha Jones (3,336) and Nykesha Sales (3,955).

Karlie Samuelson hit a jumper for that made it 74-all with three minutes to play but the Sparks shot 0 for 6 the rest of the way. DiJonai Carrington hit two free throws with 2:48 remaining to give Connecticut the lead for good and spark a 9-0 closing run. Jones added a layup almost a minute later and Los Angeles coach Curt Miller was called for a technical foul with 1:27 to go. Bonner made the free throw and added a layup before Carrington hit two free throws to cap the scoring with 38.1 seconds left.

Miller, who signed with Los Angeles in the offseason after eight seasons with Connecticut, led the Sun to two Finals appearances (2019 and 2022) and was named WNBA’s coach of the year in 2017 and 2021.

The Sparks (5-6) made just 5 of 17 (29%) from the field and were outscored 20-11 in the fourth quarter.

Nneka Ogwumike had her sixth double-double of the season and led Los Angeles with 19 points, a season-high 15 rebounds and five assists. Jordin Canada added 14 points and six assists, Azura Stevens scored 12 points and Samuelson finished with 11.

Ogwumike. who went into the game needing eight rebounds to move past Crystal Langhorne (2,454) into 15th in WNBA history, has 2,461 career rebounds.

Lexie Brown (non-covid illness) missed her second consecutive game for the Sparks.

The Sun have a quick turnaround, heading north for a game against the Seattle Storm tonight (10 p.m., NBCSB). They then close out their three-game road trip on Thursday against the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis. The Storm (3-7) are in a rebuilding mode following the retirement of point guard Sue Bird and the departure of Breanna Stewart to the New York Liberty via free agency.