St. Paul, Minn. – Jasmine Thomas and Alyssa Thomas each had season-highs of 20
points to lead six players in double-figures as the Connecticut Sun handed the
Minnesota Lynx their first loss of the season, 98-93, on Saturday night at the
Xcel Energy Center.
Leading by eight with 1:35 to play, the Sun (5-5) held on despite five points
from Maya Moore in the closing minutes. Jonquel Jones, who finished with 16
points on 6-of-7 from the field, sank two free throws with 6.4 seconds left to
ice the victory for the Sun.
It was the fourth consecutive win for Connecticut and the first loss on the year
for the Lynx (9-1). The Sun shot a season-best 55.4% (41-of-74) from the field
in the win.
In addition to her new season-best, Alyssa Thomas scored her 1,000th career
point on a running layup with 6:21 remaining in the second quarter. She also
dished out a career-best eight assists while grabbing eight rebounds.
The game had 11 ties and 19 lead changes, 10 of which came in the third quarter
alone. The two teams were deadlocked at 22 at the end of the first quarter, and
the Sun trailed by just two, 47-45 at the end of the first half.
The third quarter started with a 10-4 run by the Lynx, but the Sun followed that
with an 11-3 run to tie the game at 60 with four minutes remaining. The rest of
the quarter was back and forth with Minnesota holding a slim 75-74 lead heading
into the fourth.
Connecticut opened the final frame with a 16-5 run to take a 90-82 lead with
5:07 to play. Alyssa Thomas had six points during that run.
Rachel Banham finished with a season-best 11 points for the second consecutive
game, while Courtney Williams had 12 and Shekinna Stricklen added 13 for the
Sun.
Connecticut had a season-high 26 assists while also making a season-best 10
three-pointers for the third time this season.
Moore led the Lynx with 22 points while Renee Montgomery had 17 off the bench.
