Hayes scores 22 to hand Sun 1st defeat

Tiffany Hayes scored 22 points, Damiris Dantas added 15 and the host Atlanta Dream beat Connecticut 82-77 on Tuesday night for the Sun’s first loss of the season.

Angel McCoughtry made a long jumper with 37.7 seconds remaining to extend Atlanta’s lead to 76-69. After Shekinna Stricklen sank a 3-pointer at the other end, the Dream hit four straight free throws to seal it.

McCoughtry finished with 11 points for Atlanta (3-3), which is 16-4 all-time against Connecticut at home. Renee Montgomery chipped in with 12 points.

Alyssa Thomas had 19 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for Connecticut (5-1), which was off to its best start in franchise history. Chiney Ogwumike added 12 points and nine boards, Alex Bentley also scored 12 and Courtney Williams had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Connecticut, which entered scoring 100-plus points in three of its first five games, was held to 36.6 percent shooting from the floor.

Mercury 80, Liberty 74: Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury made plays down the stretch when they needed them to close out a 3-0 road trip.

Brittney Griner scored 26 points, Taurasi had 21 and the Mercury held the Liberty without a point for the final 3:23 to beat New York in a school-day game at Madison Square Garden.

“People always talk defense and I have a different philosophy on defense. I’d rather be a timely defensive team than an average defensive team,” Taurasi said. “You have to get timely stops. Try to make a play on both ends. Sancho (Lyttle) and Briann (January) are those people.”

This was one of only two games at MSG this season, with the Liberty playing the rest of their home schedule in suburban Westchester County.

“I think we have adapted to the County Center. That’s our new home, we love it, the fan base up there,” Liberty forward Shavonte Zellous said. “We love the Garden but we can’t play all our games here, so why be excited about one game.”