Liberty can’t overcome 29 turnovers
DeWanna Bonner made her season debut for Connecticut and scored 12 of her 16 points in the decisive first half as the Sun beat the Liberty, 92-65, on Tuesday night in Brooklyn.
Natasha Heideman scored a season-high 15 points, Brionna Jones scored 14, Jonquel Jones 13 and Alyssa Thomas notched 12 points and four steals. Courtney Williams, who also sat out the first two games (suspension), scored four points on 1-of-4 shooting with 18 minutes.
The Sun (2-1) missed its first six shots and committed two turnovers as the Liberty scored 10 of the game’s first 12 points before Michaela Onyenwere hit a 3-pointer to give the Liberty a 15-11 lead with 2:48 left in the first quarter. Brionna Jones answered with a layup and Heideman followed with a 3 to spark an 18-0 run over the next four minutes to take the lead for good.
Betnijah Laney led the Liberty (1-4) with 16 points and Stefanie Dolson scored 13.
The Liberty, which has lost four in a row since beating Connecticut, 81-79 in the season opener, committed 29 turnovers. The Libs set a franchise’s single-game record for turnovers with 30 against the Mercury in 1998 and totaled 29 turnovers against the Sparks last June.
The Utah Starzz set the WNBA record with 33 turnovers against the Mercury on August 17, 1997.
BREWERS’ MEJIA SUSPENDED
Milwaukee pitcher J.C. Mejía was suspended for 80 games on Tuesday following a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol, the second Brewers player disciplined this season under Major League Baseball’s drug program.
A 25-year-old right-hander acquired from Cleveland in November, Mejía recorded a 23.14 ERA during a pair of relief appearances for the Brewers on May 11 and 14. He had a 0.84 ERA in nine games with Triple-A Nashville.
Stanozolol is a synthetic steroid derived from testosterone.
LIVE STREAM INJURY
Former Bears running back Tarik Cohen, now a free agent, apparently suffered an injury during a training session being live-streamed on his Instagram account.
The hard-luck player, released in March by the Bears due to injuries, grabbed the back of his leg after going down during the workout. The incident was seen on Instagram Live, with Cohen falling to the floor after back-peddling.
Cohen played three full seasons with Chicago but made it to only three games in 2021 before tearing knee ligaments. He missed the rest of that season and then was released by the Bears.
A fourth-round draft pick in 2017, Cohen had a strong rookie year as a running back and kick returner. He made All-Pro as a punt returner in 2018 when he led the NFL with 33 runbacks for 411 yards.