Recaps: Businesslike Sun find a way to halt Lynx

Jonquel Jones had 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals to allow the Connecticut Sun to snap the Minnesota Lynx’s eight-game win streak with a 72-60 win on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

The Sun (16-6) moved into a tie for second place with the Seattle Storm while the Las Vegas Aces moved into sole possession of first place with a 93-83 win over the Washington Mystics.

Jasmine Thomas paced Connecticut with 19 points to go along with five assists and three steals while DeWanna Bonner added 18 points, six boards and three helpers. Briann January rounded out the Sun’s double-figure scorers with 10 points.

The Lynx (13-8) had just 22 rebounds and were led by Sylvia Fowles (14 points) and Kayla McBride (12 points).

This was a big win for the Sun to give them two double-digit wins and no losses since their blowout loss in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game. And one of those wins came against a contender in the Lynx. Clearly J. Jones and Bonner have stepped up after being very hard on themselves at the postgame press conference after the Commissioner’s Cup championship game.

Bonner on the Storm after Commissioner’s Cup championship game:

That team knows how to put it together and they have championship mentality. For me this game was like a championship mentality. It’s one game, you win the money, and it just takes a different type of mentality to play in these games, and they have it right now. We are still trying to figure it out, so hopefully we can figure it out before — well, this next half of the season.

J. Jones after Commissioner’s Cup championship game:

“The feeling is to get our behind back in the gym and work on the things we need to work on to be successful moving forward. Ten grand, we are not thinking about that right now because quite frankly we were outplayed tonight and we got to get back to the drawing board because our mission is to win a championship and the way we played tonight is not going to do that, so we need to get back to work.”

Other action

Los Angeles Sparks (8-13) over Atlanta Dream (6-15), 85-80

Kristi Toliver (11 points) hit a fallaway shot from the right elbow at the buzzer of the fourth to force overtime. In OT, the Sparks led by at least three after a Brittney Sykes layup with 3:08 to go. Atlanta’s Crystal Bradford had hit a three to cut it to one with 3:27 to play.

Nneka Ogwumike nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Sykes (17 points, five assists, two steals) has now led LA in scoring in both of their post-Olympic break games. Amanda Zahui B. added 14 points, seven boards, four assists and two blocks to the winning cause while Erica Wheeler was good for 16 points and five helpers. Nia Coffey chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Odyssey Sims notched 26 points and six assists in defeat.

Phoenix Mercury (11-10) over Indiana Fever (4-18), 84-80

Kelsey Mitchell (20 points, three assists, two steals) drove past Brittney Griner (25 points, seven rebounds, four blocks) for a layup that cut Indiana’s deficit to two with 25.9 seconds to go, but Diana Taurasi (22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) iced the game with two free throws at 7.6 seconds remaining. The Fever led by as many as seven.

Skylar Diggins-Smith injured her ankle early in this one and did not return. She is now day to day and isn’t expected to be out long.

Brianna Turner recorded a double-double for the Mercury with 10 points and 11 boards.

Victoria Vivians posted 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in defeat while teammate Danielle Robinson was good for 14 points, eight boards and three helpers.

Dallas Wings (10-13) over Chicago Sky (11-11), 80-76

The Wings bounced back with a nice win here. 3x3 gold medalist Allisha Gray tossed in 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Chicago’s Allie Quigley (season-high 27 points) cut it to two with a triple at 52.7 seconds remaining, but Dallas went on a 5-0 run after that and Quigley’s three with 1.2 seconds left was too little too late.

Arike Ogunbowale and Isabelle Harrison both added 15 points for the winners and Moriah Jefferson notched 11 points and eight assists.

Kahleah Copper and Azurá Stevens had 16 and 14 points, respectively, in defeat. Courtney Vandersloot dished out 12 assists.

Las Vegas Aces (17-6) over Washington Mystics (8-12), 93-83

The Aces came back again to defeat the Mystics. They were down by as many as eight points in this game, but A’ja Wilson had 19 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocks to lead them to victory. Kelsey Plum led Vegas in scoring with 24 points and also handed out five assists. Liz Cambage (15 points), Chelsea Gray (13) and Riquna Williams (10) all scored in double figures as well.

Washington’s U.S. Olympians were great in defeat. Tina Charles went off for 30 points and 10 rebounds, surpassing Tamika Catchings for third on the all-time rebound list. Ariel Atkins finished with 24 points.