Uncasville, CONN – Jonquel Jones led five players in double figures, finishing with 20 points and 14 rebounds as the short-handed Connecticut Sun rolled to a 104-71 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Shekinna Stricklen and Courtney Williams each had 19 points while Alyssa Thomas matched a season-high with 18 points. Jasmine Thomas had 14 points, four assists and three steals.
It was the third win in four games for the Sun (3-5), who snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Dream dating back to June 14, 2015.
Connecticut was without Morgan Tuck (knee contusion), Lynetta Kizer (back) and Alex Bentley, who is competing for the Belarus National Team in the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket Women’s tournament.
“I am really proud of our team,” Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller said. “It has been a tough stretch of adversity for our team and then another injury, to Lynetta, right after we traded Jordan Hooper. We are down in numbers, but we had three good days of practice. They bought into the game plan and we got a little bit of a monkey off our back since Atlanta swept us last year.”
It was the fourth double-double of the season for Jones, who has 61 rebounds in the last four games, and who surpassed 100 rebounds in a season after just eight games.
“She is a very nice player,” Atlanta coach Michael Cooper said of Jones. “She is the Moses Malone of the WNBA. She is definitely a person you have to box out all the time, and pay attention to, but the whole Connecticut team played well tonight.”
Stricklen had four three-pointers, and now has 11 in the last three games. Courtney added six rebounds, and is averaging 21 points and eight rebounds in the last two games.
Connecticut was leading 67-55 after three quarters, and exploded for 37 points in the last 10 minutes. Williams led the way with nine points as the Sun pulled away.
Connecticut hosts the New York Liberty on Wednesday at 7 p.m.