Alyssa Thomas recorded her WNBA-record fourth regular-season triple-double as the Connecticut Sun were in control throughout in defeating the Chicago Sky 96-72 on Sunday afternoon in Uncasville, Conn.
Thomas notched 14 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for her second triple-double in the past week. She moved past Candace Parker and Sabrina Ionescu, who each have three career triple-doubles.
DeWanna Bonner poured in 26 points, DiJonai Carrington had 17 points off the bench and Natisha Hiedeman added 14 as the Sun (12-3) won their fourth consecutive game by shooting 50 percent from the field (40 of 80). Tiffany Hayes scored 11 points.
Kahleah Copper posted 29 points for the Sky (5-9), but it wasn’t enough to prevent the team’s losing streak from stretching to six games. Chicago was held to nine fourth-quarter points.
Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith each had 11 points for Chicago, which shot 4-for-18 (22.2 percent) on 3-pointers. Marina Mabrey had 10 points.
The Sun played without forward/center Brionna Jones for the second game in a row. It was the team’s first outing since Saturday’s announcement that she will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a ruptured Achilles tendon Tuesday. Jones averaged 15.9 points per game.
Bonner, who also grabbed eight rebounds, made 10 of 16 shot attempts from the field. Connecticut, which had 30 total assists on its 40 field goals, produced the big point total despite limited chances at the free-throw line (8 of 9).
A 14-0 run in the fourth quarter helped the Sun put the game out of reach. The Sky didn’t connect on a field goal in the game’s last 6:29.
Connecticut led 54-42 at halftime, buoyed by a 13-2 advantage in bench scoring. Copper had 15 points at the break to keep the Sky within range.
Chicago led 27-26 through the first quarter before the Connecticut defense began to take control. The Sky finished the game with 19 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
