The Sun drop their first contest of the season
Brooklyn, NY (May 27, 2023)- Today, the Connecticut Sun (3-1) fell to the New York Liberty (2-1), 81-65, at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, CT.
The Sun was led by Tiffany Hayes who tallied a season-high 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal in the effort.
The Sun jumped out to an early 14-7 lead heading into the first media timeout of the contest. Hayes tallied seven early points to lead Connecticut in the first five minutes. The Liberty finished the first quarter on a 10-9 spurt, cutting the Sun’s lead to six after ten minutes of action, 23-17.
New York opened the second quarter on a 10-5 run to cut Connecticut’s lead to one, 28-27, with 6:09 to play in the first half. The Sun responded on a 10-5 run on their own to push the lead back up to six, 38-32, heading into the break. DeWanna Bonner notched five points and three rebounds to lead the Sun in the second quarter.
The Liberty opened up the second half on an 8-3 run to cut the Sun’s lead to one, 41-40, forcing an earlier timeout with 7:31 left in the third quarter. New York continued their run to take a 50-45 advantage over Connecticut with 3:12 remaining in the quarter.
The Sun trailed the Liberty, 57-51, after three quarter of action. New York outscored Connecticut, 25-13 in the ten minutes coming out the locker room. Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones each tallied four points to lead the Sun in scoring in the third.
Connecticut dropped the fourth quarter to New York, 24-14. Hayes and Bonner each notched four points in the fourth quarter to pace the Sun in scoring.
New York was led by Breanna Stewart who tallied 21 points, six rebounds, five assists, six steals and four blocks.
Connecticut was held to just 34.9% (22-63) from the field, while New York was 47.1% (32-68) from the floor on the day. The Sun turned the ball over 17 times, which turned into 28 points for the Liberty.
Sun Notes:
- Ty Harris tallied a season-high eight points in seven minutes off the bench.
- Alyssa Thomas moved into fourth all-time in games played in Connecticut Sun history, tying Taj McWilliams-Franklin (243).
- Natisha Hiedeman moved into ninth all-time in three-points field goals made in Sun history, passing Alex Bentley (162).
| Team | Score | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | PTS | REB | AST |
| CON | 65 | 23 | 15 | 13 | 14 | Hayes- 16 | Thomas/Jones- 8 | Hayes- 3 |
| NYL | 81 | 17 | 15 | 25 | 24 | Stewart- 21 | Thornton/Ionescu- 7 | Vandersloot- 10 |
NEXT GAME: The Connecticut Sun return home to take on the Indiana Fever on Tuesday, May 30 at 7:00 PM ET.