— The Sun open the 2018 season with a 101-65 win against the Aces, the
former San Antonio Stars.
— The 36-point margin of victory was the largest for any season opener in
WNBA history.
— The 101 points scored by the Sun is the most points scored by the
franchise since June 10, 2017 when Connecticut recorded 104 points
against the Atlanta Dream.
— Alex Bentley along with three of Connecticut’s starters finished in
double-figures for the Sun’s 2018 home opener. Alex Bentley (18), Alyssa
Thomas (13), Jasmine Thomas (12) and Shekinna Strickland (11).
— Bentley came off the bench to lead Connecticut with 18 points on 3-of-4
shooting from the three-point arc. The guard also picked up five assists
and three steals.
— Forward Alyssa Thomas opened the Connecticut Sun season with her first
double-double with 13 points and a career high 17 rebounds. Thomas also
collected six assists and three blocked shots against Las Vegas.
— Sun guard Jasmine Thomas finished with 12 points in the 2018 season
opener. The guard also tallied six assists and two blocked shots.
— Shekinna Stricklen collected 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field
for the Sun.
— Chiney Ogwumike made her 2018 debut for her first game since May 7,
2016. The forward finished with nine points on 2-of-3 shooting from the
field.
— Lexi Brown made her Connecticut Sun debut against Las Vegas finishing
with five points and four assists. The first points of her career came
on a three-pointer at 6:58 in the fourth quarter.
— Forward Tamera Young led the Aces with 23 points to go 7-of-14 from the
field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
— Las Vegas Aces rookie A’ja Wilson finished her first game with a
double-double totaling 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Aces.
— Nia Coffey collected 11 points for Las Vegas.
CONNECTICUT SUN QUOTES
Head Coach Curt Miller
Opening Statement:“Every journey has a starting point and that was our starting
point. We really appreciate the crowd tonight, first I want to acknowledge that.
Our front office did an unbelievable job getting prepared for the start of the
season. The support from around the state for the Orange Invasion to turn a lot
of public places orange last night was greatly appreciated. Shout out to the
crowd, it really gave us a lot of energy with a lot of fun things here on
opening night. We didn’t face a lot of adversity in the three exhibition games,
so to take that punch early by Las Vegas and stay composed and stay to what we
think is important with the way we play, we just grinded back into the game
which was good for us. We didn’t face a lot of deficits in the exhibitions. I’m
proud of their composure there early, they took that early punch and did a lot
of good things.”
On out-rebounding Las Vegas:“Well, we competed. I still thought we gave up some
team offensive rebounds right off the start, felt like they had four or five
second chances in the first couple minutes of the game. We’re never happy with
an offensive put-back off of a foul-line, but we competed. We gang-rebounded, we
scratched, we clawed, we tried to tip the ball when we couldn’t get it to keep
it alive and maybe use our speed, but that team is going to be really good real
quick when they get their three star guards back.”
Alyssa Thomas
On opening the season with a big win.“We are just trying to pick up from where
we left of last season. We have been excited for this first game and have been
working hard all preseason. As we saw today, it was a great start to season.”
On the expectations on the team.“I don’t think we can sneak up on other teams in
the league this season. We have to play well from the jump this year and cannot
have a lull in the season like we did last year.”
Jasmine Thomas
On the team’s strong start to the season.“It wasn’t exactly a great start to the
game, but we got it going eventually. We like to play off of each other, so once
we started grabbing some rebounds, steals and deflections our transition game
got going.”
On the team’s expectations.“We have been asked about expectations a lot lately.
Towards the end of last season, we were not surprising teams, people were giving
us their best game. I think we have experience with playing teams that know what
to expect from us.”
On the return of Jonquel Jones and having a complete roster for the first game
this season.“We are happy to have everyone together, but we are still working on
putting all the pieces together. She (Jonquel Jones) has only been here a few
days and it was her first game so we will have a much better J.J. soon.”
LAS VEGAS QUOTES
Head Coach Bill Laimbeer
Opening Statement: “We have a long way to go and we know that. We are missing a
lot of players, four contributors from last year and we have to wait for them to
get back. They are a very good basketball team and we knew we were going to be
in a hornets nest and we were exposed, we lack shooters, shooting 26 percent
again two games in a row is not going to cut it and we have to find a solution.”
On when he expects his key players to return“(Kelsey) Plum and (Kayla) McBride
are still in Turkey and they are playing each other in the best of five series,
they have played three games, so worst case is Friday or Saturday.”
Then things can normalize for you guys? Yeah. They are good basketball players,
but we can’t even make that as an excuse, we just have to keep playing
basketball and there are going to be nights like this there is no question about
it and we have to learn. That is what I am preaching this year, a learning
experience for everybody.” Tamera Young On jumping out to a 14-4 lead “We came
out to a great start and that started on the defensive end and we were running
in transition. We then had little mishaps and they came back.”
On this team that is missing several key players “We are a young team and made
some changes in training camp and now we have to build together and get our
chemistry down on the offensive end. We always put emphasis on defense and
defense doesn’t have to be chemistry, its heart and pride and that is what we
put emphasis on.”
A’ja Wilson On her pro debut “It was pretty decent, but of course I would love
to win, that is what I am wired to do. It’s tough of course we are all
competitors and we all want to get a win, it was the first game and those
jitters are gone for me and I am starting to get a better feel for my teammates
and I am just ready to get back on the court again.”
On if the game was different for her compared to college “Not really, it felt
pretty clogged up like college. I didn’t really feel a difference at all
honestly other than people are playing above the rim with me and in college you
don’t really see that. Here, you have Jonquel Jones and this is the only
difference, but I don’t think that shouldn’t hinder us in how we play.”
