The Connecticut Sun have seen flashes of a championship ceiling in the home stretch of the WNBA regular season including three straight wins on the road last week, but team showed it is still struggling to find consistency with an 84-71 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday.
The Sun were routed by the Aces seven days after giving up a 15-point lead in a 72-67 loss to the reigning WNBA champions at home. Though the margin of defeat was different, Connecticut’s biggest issue in both games was its difficulty putting together four consistent quarters. With just two games left until the playoffs begin, the Sun are facing their last opportunity to prove themselves against a title contender when they host the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
“I thought we had some moments of doing some really good things, but that run in the in the end of the second quarter and then into the third quarter hurt us,” Sun coach Stephanie White said Sunday. “It was a little bit too much to overcome. The Aces did everything that they they needed to and were supposed to do. They made big shots. They answered runs. They had players step up for them and knock down big shots … That’s what championship teams do. That’s why they’re back-to-back WNBA champions.”
Tuesday’s matchup will be critical in determining postseason seeding, though the Lynx (29-9) gave themselves a two-game cushion with a decisive 88-79 victory over the New York on Sunday. Connecticut needs to beat Minnesota to have a chance at the No. 2 seed, but the Lynx will still finish ahead of the Sun in the overall standings if they beat the last-place Los Angeles Sparks in their final regular-season game Thursday. It’s certainly not impossible, but the Lynx are 12-1 since the Olympic break and still have something to play for as they attempt to chase down the Liberty’s No. 1 spot.
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Connecticut has been an Achilles heel for the Lynx, who have won or split their 2024 series with every other team in the league. Both of the Sun’s previous wins came in the first half of the season before they traded for Chicago Sky guard Marina Mabrey at the break, and the sharpshooter has established herself as an offensive pillar for Connecticut in September. Mabrey has scored in double digits in nine of her last 10 appearances off the bench, and she averaged 18.3 points shooting 53% from the field and 46% from 3-point range over the Sun’s four-game road trip last week.
“I think more than anything it’s just getting comfortable,” White said. “It’s just her getting comfortable in the game, getting comfortable with playing with everybody else on the floor, and then them getting comfortable with her and where her shots are coming from. We know how she’s facilitating, all of those things. I think the biggest thing is just us continuing to move in that positive direction.”
Marina Mabrey with 19 PTS // 4 REB // 2 AST in last night’s game🗣️#BringTheHeat pic.twitter.com/uyNSa5HSQ9
— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) September 15, 2024
But the Sun also haven’t seen this iteration of the Lynx with former UConn star Napheesa Collier playing her best basketball. Collier is averaging 20.3 points plus a career-high 9.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals, and she has recorded six double-doubles in the last 13 games. Connecticut’s first matchup with Minnesota was back in May, and even then Collier was impressive logging 31 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks in the Lynx’s 83-82 overtime loss. She then exited after playing just 24 minutes with a foot injury against the Sun in Minneapolis on July 4, and Connecticut made a second-half comeback to win 78-73.
The Sun are fresh off a loss to Las Vegas where superstar A’ja Wilson put up 29 points and became the first WNBA player to score 1,000 in a season. Minnesota doesn’t have the same wealth of talent that the Aces do, but Kayla McBride is having one of the best 3-point shooting seasons in franchise history, and Bridget Carleton has averaged a career-high 10.85 points since the Olympic break.
“We’ve got to move on quickly. That’s the name of the game in this league,” White said. “We still sit in a good spot. It’s going to be a long travel night of course, getting home, getting rest, making sure that we’re balancing rest and recovery with preparation, and we’ve got to turn the page. We’ve got to prepare ourselves for the next game while we’re preparing ourselves for the playoffs. We just don’t have a choice.”
How to watch Connecticut Sun vs. Minnesota Lynx
Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
Team records: Sun 27-11; Lynx 29-9
Time: 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday
Last meeting: 78-73, Connecticut; July 4 in Minneapolis
TV: NBC Sports Boston (local only)
Streaming: WNBA League Pass
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