Sun get the ball rolling
Mohegan — It would be both rash and foolish to suggest that the Connecticut Sun needed to win Saturday's season-opener against the Washington Mystics as it was, after all, the first game of a 34-game regular season.
Connecticut did, however, had some benefits it needed to use to its advantage.
The Sun had to protect home court against a good holiday vacation weekend crowd of 7,913 at Mohegan Sun Arena, which they did, winning 84-69.
Furthermore, Washington had just nine available players out of a possible 12. Elena Delle Donne, the 2015 WNBA MVP, didn't make the trip due to a knee injury.
Mystics sharpshooter Kristi Toliver was also injured in the first half and missed minutes. She came back later that half but was injured again late in the third quarter and didn't return.
Alyssa Thomas had 23 points, eight rebound and four assists as the Sun turned a three-point halftime lead into a 67-49 edge with 1 minute, 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
Jonquel Jones had 10 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for Connecticut while Jasmine Thomas added 13 points and six assists.
Layshia Clarendon and Morgan Tuck and both scored eight off the bench for the Sun.
Emma Meeseman had 14 points and six rebounds for the Mystics and reserve Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 11 points and eight rebounds. Toliver also scored 11.
The Sun started to pull away with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left in the third quarter. It started when Courtney Williams turned an offensive rebound into a short jumper to give Connecticut a 56-47 lead.
Shekinna Stricklen followed with a 3-pointer and then two free throws.
Meeseman made a layup on the other end for Washington.
Williams' jumper, a Tuck layup and Jasmine Thomas' reverse layup pushed the Sun ahead, 67-49, with 1:17 left in the quarter.
Connecticut trailed 37-32 with over four minutes remaining in the first half when it managed to regain the lead. Clarendon scored on a layup, followed by Alyssa Thomas driving the lane and passing the ball out to the left corner where an open Rachel Banham made a 3-pointer to tie the game.
Cloud made two free throws to put Washington ahead. Banham came back with a runner and Clarendon added a runner-up for the Sun.
Alyssa Thomas scored on an open layup after a Toliver turnover for the final points of the half to give Connecticut a 44-41 lead.
The Sun managed to build a
10-point lead in the first half, then immediately lost it, right after Toliver, one of the greatest 3-point shooters in league history, injured her leg.
Allyssa Thomas scored on back-to-back drives and Brionna Jones made the first of two free throws. Tuck followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Connecticut a 28-18 lead with 9:14 left in the first half.
Washington came right back with a 17-0 run.
Toliver, who had just returned to the game, was left wide-open across from her team's bench for a 3-pointer that put the Mystics up, 35-30, with 5:37 remaining in the second quarter.