A late push by the Sun wasn’t enough to overcome the Aces in the fourth
Uncasville, CT (June 6, 2023)- Tonight, the Connecticut Sun (6-2) dropped the first game of a back-to-back with the Las Vegas Aces (7-0), 90-84,
The Sun was led by Rebecca Allen who tallied a season-high 22 points on a career-high tying six three pointers. She also added five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in the effort.
The Aces outscored the Sun 13-7 heading into the first media timeout of the contest. The Sun committed four early turnovers in that stretch. Connecticut gave up a 5-2 run out of that timeout to trail Las Vegas, 18-9, with 2:43 remaining in the quarter.
Las Vegas led Connecticut, 25-14, after the first quarter of play. Brionna Jones led the Sun in the first with four points, two rebounds, and two assists. Jackie Young paced the Aces with seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals after ten minutes.
The Sun trailed, 33-17, after the Aces opened the second quarter on an 8-3 run. Connecticut responded with a quick 6-3 spurt to cut the lead to 13, 36-23, with 3:44 to go in the quarter. The Aces finished the quarter outscoring the Sun, 12-8, to take a 48-31 lead into the locker room.
Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut with eight points and two rebounds in the second quarter. The Sun’s 31 first-half points marked a season low. Connecticut outscored Las Vegas, 7-4, in second chance points, but Las Vegas had the edge in the paint, 28-12, and on the fast break, 15-2, in the first half.
The Sun opened the second half outscoring the Aces, 10-5, to cut the lead to 11, 53-41, with 7:05 remaining in the third. Natisha Hiedeman and Tiffany Hayes each had three points in that stretch. Connecticut trailed Las Vegas, 70-53, after three quarters of action with both teams tallying 22 points in the ten minutes coming out of the locker room.
Connecticut opened the fourth quarter on a 13-6 run to cut Las Vegas’s lead to 10, 76-66. Allen nailed three triples for the Sun in that stretch. The Sun continued their push, rattling off a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three, 76-73, with 3:50 remaining. The Aces finished the game on a 14-8 spurt to ultimately defeat the Sun, 90-84.
Las Vegas was led by A’ja Wilson who notched a double-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocks.
Connecticut shot 40.8% (29-71) from the floor, while Las Vegas was 50.8% (32-62) from the field. The Sun held the advantage on the second chance points, 17-6, and bench points, 33-9, but the Aces had the edge in points in the paint, 48-34, and fast break points, 19-12.
Sun Notes:
- Brionna Jones finished with her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She also tallied a career-high with seven assists.
- DiJonai Carrington recorded a season-high 11 points, along with three rebounds and one assist.
- Alyssa Thomas had her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. She leads the league in double-doubles this season.
- The Sun tallied a season-high 33 bench points, including 22 from Rebecca Allen. The last Sun player to finish with 20+ points off the bench in the regular season was Brionna Jones with 20 points against Chicago on 6/10/22.
- After committing 12 first half-turnovers, the Sun turned the ball over just three times in the second half.
- Connecticut knocked down a season-high 10 three-point field goals.
| Team | Score | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | PTS | REB | AST |
| CON | 84 | 14 | 17 | 22 | 31 | Allen- 22 | Thomas- 11 | Hiedeman/Jones- 7 |
| LVA | 90 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 20 | Wilson- 23 | Wilson- 10 | Gray- 7 |
NEXT GAME: The Connecticut Sun take on the Las Vegas Aces once again on Thursday, June 8 at 7:00 PM ET at Mohegan Sun Arena.