After a solid start to the 2013 WNBA season at home last weekend, the Connecticut Sun stumbled in a pair of consecutive road games this weekend.
On Friday night, the Sun fell 86-75 to the Chicago Sky at Allstate Arena behind a big 22-point and 20-rebound game from Sylvia Fowles in addition to another 20 points from star rookie Elena Delle Donne.
Adding to the sting of a road loss, the Sun lost reigning Sixth Woman of the Year Renee Montgomery to a left ankle injury.
"It was really hard you know Renee is a big part of this team," said Sun MVP center Tina Charles, who finished with a team-high 15 rebounds to go with 16 points in Chicago. "She does a lot for us on offense especially to see her go down. Just been around her for the past eight years with AAU, kind of definitely hit me personally, but I'm just glad it was just an ankle sprang."
Listed as day-to-day, Montgomery wasn't able to play tonight against the Minnesota Lynx and the way the defending Western Conference champions came out in their opener it's not clear how much of a difference it would have made.
#loslynx shooting by quarter: 40% (1Q) 60% (2Q) & 69% (3Q).
— Alan Horton (@LynxRadio) June 2, 2013
Despite Kara Lawson's 5-for-10 3-point shooting and a 22-point and 10-rebound performance from Charles - which included eight offensive rebounds - the Sun shot just 35.9% from the field overall and fell 90-74 in Minneapolis.
The Lynx were led by a one-two combination of Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore, who combined to score 46 points and split nine assists. Moore added a team-high seven rebounds.
Although Lynx center Janel McCarville didn't make a huge impact on the box score in her debut in Minnesota as a teammate with fellow Minnesota Golden Gopher Lindsay Whalen, her passing and physical play inside helped her finish the game with a game-high plus/minus rating of +32.
The Sun will next play a home game against the Washington Mystics on Friday looking to open the season undefeated at Mohegan Sun Arena.