Sun detonate for 107, torch Dallas in last home game

Uncasville, CT – The Mohegan Sun Arena was lit up for the final home Connecticut Sun (13-20) game against the Dallas Wings (11-22). The Sun ended their home season on a good note with a 107-74 win over the Wings.

The Sun started off trailing behind Dallas for the entire first quarter. Possessions switched back and forth, and kept a close-knit score throughout the first 10 minutes of the game. However, the Wings ended the quarter on top at 27-24.

Dallas’ Theresa Plaisance and Karima Christmas, controlled the first quarter for the Wings. Plaisance scored a career-high with 22 points on the board for the Wings. Christmas and Skylar Diggins both ended the game with 12 points each.

Connecticut did not stay down without a fight though. Jasmine Thomas and Alex Bentley played quick and physical. Both earned four points in the first quarter and they were just getting started.

The Sun came out hot for the second quarter – it was as if an entirely new team was on the floor. Connecticut rookies, Courtney Williams and Jonquel Jones, dominated the second quarter; both garnered nine points before the end of the half — since being traded to the Sun a few months ago, Williams has been a great spark off the bench for the young team.

Williams ended the game with 15 points, plus a career-high five assists and Jones added 11 on the board.

“(My goal for next season is to) win games and get in where I can fit in and do whatever I need to do for the team,” said Williams.

Near the end of the half, Dallas started to get sloppy with fouls and turnovers. The Sun capitalized on the Wings mistakes and took over the lead 39-37 The Sun forward Camille Little returned to the court, and she immediately exploded with two back-to-back triples. Connecticut entered the locker room leading 54-41.

Everything was clicking offensively for the Sun. Already they were starting to pull away from the visiting team — and they showed no intentions of slowing down.

“I truly believe that this team cares on and off the court for each other and it shows with the passion that they play with for each other,” said Head Coach Curt Miller.

Remember how Connecticut had all of the momentum? They returned to the court after halftime fired up. They immediately bumped their lead to 61-43. And the many struggles that have afflicted Dallas all year started to rear its head again.

During the season Dallas has struggled to get stops when it was needed to end their opponents run and Fred Williams called a timeout to stop the bleeding.

But it was too late, as the home team fed off of the energy from the crowd.

The whole arena jumped to their feet when Jasmine Thomas hit a triple just as the shot clock expired. And before you knew it, Dallas had to take another timeout, trailing by 17, 73-56.

Usually, the Wings in games like this would muster the will to comeback, but they couldn’t hit the rim. Couple that with their awful — and struggling — defense, the Sun just blitzed them off the floor in the third quarter pushing their lead up to 83-60.

The Sun’s domination did not come close to slowing down, if anything, it went into overdrive in the fourth quarter, as the home team hit the triple digits on the score board half way through the final quarter.

Connecticut took the win with a final score of 107-74. The Sun will look to end their season to on a high note, as they go into Washington on September 18 for their finale.