Mohegan Sun—The Connecticut Sun beat the Phoenix Mercury, 87-63, in the first of a two-game series this week in front of an announced crowd of 6,130.
Connecticut upped their record to 21-10 on the season, while the Mercury fall to 13-18 on the year.
Natisha Hiedeman had 16 points to lead seven Connecticut players scoring in double figures, It’s the 12th time in league history that many players have reached double-digits in the same game. The Sun has done it three times.
With a steal in tonight’s game, Alyssa Thomas moved into third all-time in steals in
Connecticut Sun franchise history, tying Taj McWilliams-Franklin with 350 swipes.
Thomas got her second triple-double of the season with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 10
assists. She also passed the 800-assist mark in tonight’s win, now having dished out 804 in her career. Also, Thomas recorded the franchise’s first triple-double in a win over the Minnesota Lynx on July 22. The No. 4 pick overall in the 2014 draft, the 6-foot-2 Thomas is just the fifth WNBA player with multiple triple-doubles and joined Candace Parker (Chicago Sky) and Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty) as the only players with more than one this season.
Phoenix took a 13-8 lead when Shey Peddy scored with 3:44 left in the first but the Mercury went scoreless for the next 7-plus minutes. Brionna Jones made a layup to open the scoring in the second quarter and give Connecticut the lead for good at 15-13.
The Sun opened the second quarter outscoring the Mercury, 6-4, to take a two-point advantage, 19-17, with 5:44 remaining in the first half.
Hiedeman hit a 3-pointer to make it 42-30 with 7:50 left in the third quarter and the Sun led by double figures the rest of the contest.
With four rebounds in tonight’s contest, Courtney Williams is now tied with Chiney Ogwumike for ninth all-time in rebounding in Connecticut Sun history, with 712 rebounds.
This is the third time this season where Connecticut has held an opponent to 25 points or less at the break.
Skylar Diggins-Smith and Sophie Cunningham each scored 15 points to lead Phoenix in scoring in the loss.
The Sun outscored the Mercury in the paint (18-14), in second chance points (5-4), on the fast break (6-2), and in bench points (4-3) through two quarters of play.
The Mercury (13-18) have lost back-to-back games to fall a game behind the Dallas Wings (13-16) for sixth in the WNBA standings with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season. New York, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Atlanta Dream and the Minnesota Lynx (11th) are all within a game of Phoenix.
DiJonai Carrington and DeWanna Bonner scored 12 points apiece, Brionna Jones scored 11 and Jonquel Jones chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Sun.
