Uncasville – Courtney Williams had career highs of 27 points and 12 made field goals while also pulling down eight rebounds as the Connecticut Sun rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to beat the Seattle Storm 84-71 on Tuesday night at Mohegan Sun.
Playing without veteran point guard Jasmine Thomas, who sprained her left ankle against Phoenix on Friday, the Sun (16-9) won their seventh straight at Mohegan Sun and fourth straight since the All-Star break. Connecticut was also without veteran forward Lynetta Kizer (back).
Jonquel Jones (20 points, 14 rebounds) had her fifth straight double-double and her 15th of the season while Alyssa Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds. Starting in place of Jasmine Thomas, veteran Alex Bentley had another strong game, finishing with 12 points. Shekinna Stricklen had a career-high five steals in the victory.
Williams had 21 points in the second half, including 15 in the fourth quarter on 6-of-7 shooting as Connecticut outscored the Storm (10-16) 33-9 over the final 10 minutes.
The Sun were 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the field in the quarter while Seattle was just 3-of-20 (15 percent). Connecticut’s shooting percentage was a season-high while Seattle’s points and shooting percentage were season-lows for a Sun opponent.
Trailing 62-51 after three quarters, the Sun outscored Seattle 18-2 over the first 5:23 of the fourth quarter to build a 69-64 lead. Seattle got as close as 71-69 on a three-pointer by Sue Bird – who set a WNBA record with her 471st career start – but Connecticut outscored the Storm 13-2 the rest of the way.
Breanna Stewart led the Storm with 17 points and six rebounds, but missed setting a WNBA record for consecutive 20-point games. Her streak ended at 12, tying Diana Taurasi’s mark. Bird had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Sun will host the Dallas Wings on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. Get tickets.