UNCASVILLE — After suffering a shocking home upset by the Atlanta Dream nine days ago, the Connecticut Sun left no questions in the rematch with an 80-67 rout of the Dream at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday.
The Sun were out-rebounded, gave up 18 turnovers and shot below 40% at both levels in their last matchup with Atlanta, but those issues vanished in Sunday’s dominant performance. Connecticut (17-4) controlled the boards with 36 to the Dream’s 31 and allowed just seven turnovers while forcing 10. Four of five starters shot above 50%, and the team finished at 43.8% from the field.
“I like the way we responded especially after losing to a team and then playing them again after — was it even a week?” All-Star DeWanna Bonner said. “It just shows the character of this team. We really wanted to win this game and get that win back, because we felt like we kind of let one slip away … For us to come back and respond this way, and everybody had to play, it’s huge.”
Nia Coffey pushed Atlanta (7-13) out to an early 6-2 lead, scoring every point for the Dream on its opening run and nine of its 16 first-quarter points. But as the rest of Atlanta’s lineup struggled to get shots to fall, Connecticut settled into an unexpected rhythm from 3-point range. Tiffany Mitchell hit the first outside shot of the game to give the Sun their first lead with three minutes left in the first quarter, and Bonner added two more on back-to-back possessions to power Connecticut to a 20-16 lead after the first quarter.
Both teams went scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the second quarter until All-Star center Brionna Jones ended the drought with a layup for Connecticut. Jones had an elite defensive performance in the first half against UConn legend Tina Charles, who became the No. 3 all-time scorer in WNBA history in Atlanta’s game against the Dallas Wings on Friday. Charles was held to just two points in the entire half shooting 1-for-6 from the field, and she brought down two rebounds to Jones’s four.
“It’s really hard because Tina’s not just a great player, but she understands positioning. She understands timing, and she does a really good job of getting to her spots,” White said. “I thought Breezy did a good job of making her uncomfortable, making her catch the ball two or three feet outside where she wanted to catch it, and those two or three feet are important … I thought everybody else did a good job of showing bodies and making sure she wasn’t getting multiple dribbles every time down the floor. Our ball pressure was much better and no allowing easy passes.”
Bonner continued her hot shooting performance into the second quarter, scoring a game-high 11 points in the first half going 3-for-5 from 3-point range. She finished with a career-high seven makes on nine attempts for 23 points plus four rebounds, a steal and a block.
DB hitting career highs for 3-pointers tonight! #BringTheHeat pic.twitter.com/E8rz0Jq293
— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) July 7, 2024
“She looked a little bit more assured when she was shooting it today instead of hesitant and like, ‘Oh I don’t have anything else to do, let me just shoot it,'” White said. “That’s what we want from her, because with her size, with her length, she can shoot over most defenders. She has a high release point too, so she gets opportunities, and we don’t want her passing up shots. We can’t afford for that to happen. I thought she was really good and solid for us tonight, on both ends.”
The Sun entered the game as one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, averaging just 30.9% from outside. But against the Dream, Connecticut shot just as well on its 3-point attempts as it did from the field. Veronica Burton made her fifth three in five games after taking a single missed attempt in her first seven appearances, and the team combined to hit 43.5% beyond the arc.
“I feel like we’ve been building towards (more consistency). I think we’ve showed it on the defensive end of the floor, and we’ve started to show it offensively as well with how the ball is moving, multiple players getting touches,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “We still have our moments … but there have been less of those, and I think that that’s our goal, which is to continue to maximize the things that we’re doing really well and minimize the struggles that we have at times.”
Connecticut took a 10-point lead at halftime that it continued to extend in the third. DiJonai Carrington, who was 1-for-6 from the field in the first half, ended a 6-2 Dream run with long 3-pointer, and Tyasha Harris also settled in with six of her eight points coming in the third. After her clutch three early, Mitchell provided a consistent presence off the bench on both ends of the floor. She logged a season-high 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting plus three rebounds and a block.
Allisha Gray led the Dream with 19 points shooting 63.6% from the field, but she and Coffey were the only Atlanta starters to hit more than 35%. Charles tried to keep the game competitive with 11 points in the third quarter alone, and she finished with 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks despite the loss.
