Alyssa Thomas two assists short of triple-double

Uncasville, CT (August 24, 2023)- Today, the Connecticut Sun (24-11) defeated the Los Angeles Sparks (15-19), 83-69. The Sun currently lead the season series, 2-0.

The Sun was led by Alyssa Thomas who finished with her 25^th double-double of the year with 17 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

1Q- Connecticut led Los Angeles, 13-12, heading into the first media timeout. Alyssa Thomas led the Sun early with six points and two assists with 4:58 to play in the first quarter. Los Angeles finished the first outscoring Connecticut, 8-6, to take a one-point lead into the second, 20-19. Thomas led all Sun scorers with six points, while Rebecca Allen and Tiffany Hayes each added five points through ten minutes of play.

2Q- Los Angeles opened the second on an 8-2 run to push their lead up to seven, 28-21, with 7:52 to play in the first half and forcing the Sun into a timeout. Connecticut committed four turnovers in the first two minutes of the quarter. The Sun responded on a 16-6 run to take a 37-34 lead with 2:37 to go in the second. Connecticut was able to close out the half an take a five-point lead into the locker room, 43-38. Thomas led the Sun with 12 points, two rebounds and five assists at the break. Connecticut turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, resulting in 11 Los Angeles points. The Sun entered the game averaging 13 turnovers a game on the season.

3Q- The Sun opened the second half outscoring the Sparks, 10-6, to push their lead up to nine, 53-44, and forcing Los Angeles into a timeout with 6:55 to play in the third. DeWanna Bonner notched four of the Sun’s 10 on that stretch. The Sparks were able to cut the Sun’s lead to as close as two in the third quarter, but the Sun were able to answer, finishing the third on a 9-0 run over the last 2:37 to play in the quarter to take a 69-57 lead into the fourth. Allen and Ty Harris each had six points in the third to lead Connecticut in scoring out of the locker room.

4Q- Connecticut began the fourth on a 6-3 spurt to push their lead to 15, 75-60, with 6:04 to go in the game. Thomas, Hayes and Olivia Nelson-Ododa each had a bucket on that run. The Sun went on to outscore the Sparks, 14-11, in the final ten minutes to close out an 83-68 win over the Sparks.

Los Angeles was led by Azura Stevens who tallied 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals on the day.

Connecticut shot 49.2% (32-65) from the floor, while holding Los Angeles to 41.9% (26-62) from the field in the game.

Sun Notes:

• With 12 points in the win, DeWanna Bonner moved in 6^th all-time in scoring in WNBA history, passing Cappie Pondexter. She now has 6,815 points in her career.
• Rebecca Allen finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
• Natisha Hiedeman tallied 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Tiffany Hayes notched 11 points and seven assists in the win.
• All five Sun starters finished in double-figures. The Sun are now 5-0 when all starters score 10+ points.
• With eight assists in the win, Alyssa Thomas now has 282 assists this season. She is 18 assists away from the single season assist record held by Courtney Vandersloot (300 assists in 2019).
• Olivia Nelson-Ododa finished with her second career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
• With her 11 rebounds, Olivia Nelson-Ododa eclipsed 200 career-rebounds (207). She also eclipsed 50 career-blocks with a season-high tying three blocks in the game.
• With five assists in the win, Ty Harris eclipsed 300 career assists (302).
• The Sun tied a season-high with 19 turnovers on the day. After turning the ball over 13 times in the first, Connecticut was able to take better care of the ball with only six turnovers after the break.

NEXT GAME: The Connecticut Sun host the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday, August 31 at 7:00 PM at Mohegan Sun Arena.