DiJonai Carrington had a season-high 22 points and DeWanna Bonner scored 15 of her 17 points during a dominant opening half by the Connecticut Sun, who rebounded from their first loss of the season by beating the Indiana Fever 89-72 on Monday night at Uncasville, Conn.
Alyssa Thomas had 18 rebounds plus seven points and seven assists for the Sun (10-1), who took control by putting together a first half that featured 55 points on 61.3 percent shooting to defeat the Fever for an 11th straight time.
Bonner scored the first eight points for Connecticut, which easily bounced back from Saturday’s 82-75 home loss to New York thanks in part to an early 8-0 run.
The Sun generated a 14-3 spurt bridging the first two quarters, then closed the first half on a 16-4 surge to lead 55-35 at the break.
It marked the third time this season Connecticut has beaten the Fever (3-10), whose last win in the series came in July 2021. The Sun opened the campaign with a 92-71 home rout of Indiana, then pulled out an 88-84 road victory on May 20.
Aliyah Boston had 14 points and 12 boards for the Fever, while Caitlin Clark scored all 10 of her points in the first half. The superstar rookie then sat for a good portion of the second half after picking up her fourth foul with 4:41 left in the third quarter for Indiana, which shot 40.3 percent for the game and was outrebounded 41-26.
Indiana led 7-5 when the Sun essentially took over by scoring the next eight points, a run highlighted by Bonner’s go-ahead 3-pointer. Bonner’s 3 to open the second quarter capped a rally in which the Sun scored 14 of 17 points to take a 29-15 lead.
The Fever got within 39-31 on a pair of Clark free throws with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Sun closed the period by scoring 16 of the final 20 points. Carrington scored seven points during that outburst, including a driving layup at the buzzer off a Clark turnover.
Bonner and Carrington combined for 29 first-half points.
–Field Level Media
