UNCASVILLE — The Connecticut Sun suffered a heartbreaking 71-68 loss to the New York Liberty on Wednesday at Mohegan Sun Arena, continuing a two-year regular-season losing streak to their Eastern Conference rival that dates back to July 2022.
“You can’t make a lot of mistakes and you have to be able to match their scoring ability,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “They have a lot of weapons on both ends of the floor… When they play that big lineup, they have length at four or five positions, and that creates some challenges defensively because of what they can do. I always feel really good about our defensive effort… but we have to be able to score with them.”
The Sun struggled to find an offensive rhythm early, shooting 37.1 percent from the field in the first half while the Liberty shot well above its season average. UConn legend Breanna Stewart made her first four straight attempts and New York shot a combined 54.5 percent from the field before halftime.
“We played with pride and gave a team 29 points and they shot 70 percent in the first quarter, so I felt like our attention to detail improved a little bit — I’m not sure consistently throughout the game, but for the most part,” White said. “But you can’t watch a team like New York with 10 points in the first quarter. They’re too good. They have too much depth. They make you pay for mistakes, and that’s what they did to us today.”
Connecticut found itself unusually reliant on 3-point shooting as it struggled from the field, but the team continued its recent success from beyond the arc with the Liberty’s top perimeter defender, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, out. DeWanna Bonner hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in a win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, and picked up where she left off against New York by hitting her first three for the Sun’s first score of the game, and had a team-high eight points by the end of the first quarter.
Brionna Jones also started well, leading the Sun with 13 points in the first half while former MVP Jonquel Jones scored just two for the Liberty. But New York flexed the muscle of its superteam as Stewart and All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu combined for 24 points in the first half, and Stewart added a game-high eight rebounds to her 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Sun star Alyssa Thomas struggled in her matchup against Stewart, to whom she finished second in the race for the 2023 WNBA MVP award. Thomas didn’t score in the first half after spending significant minutes on the bench in the second quarter with two fouls, though she led Connecticut in assists with four to go along with four rebounds at halftime. She finished with just three points — her lowest-scoring performance since 2020 — and added nine rebounds and eight assists.
“Seeing 1-for-4 and three-point shooting is very limiting to what AT brings to us on both ends of the floor, so I wouldn’t say she didn’t have a great offensive game. I would say she didn’t have a lot of opportunities,” White said. “We have to use her a little bit more as an off-ball screener when they clog the paint like they did with Stewie, too. There are certain matchups that are tough, and Stewie is one of them. She’s got that big wingspan and makes it very, very difficult, so we have to do a better job as coaches to move and put (Thomas) in other situations.”
The Liberty found their answer early in the third quarter, going on a 9-0 run that put the Sun back into a double-digit deficit. Tyasha Harris stepped up to end Connecticut’s scoring drought with five unanswered points, including her first 3-pointer of the game. Connecticut got the game back within a one-score deficit in the final two minutes of the quarter when Bonner scored her first points of the second half. New York entered the fourth quarter with a 59-54 lead, holding the Sun to 16 points in the third.
Connecticut cut the Liberty lead to a single point early in the fourth quarter after Bonner made three free throws, and Harris tied the score for the first time since the opening quarter with a layup with five minutes remaining. There was also a noticeable shift in the Sun’s defensive intensity down the stretch, with Harris’ game-tying basket coming off a block by Thomas and a defensive rebound by Jones.
Bonner gave Connecticut a one-point lead with less than four minutes left in the game with her third 3-pointer of the game, and the 15-year veteran finished with 22 points, making 3 of 5 shots from outside. DiJonai Carrington kept the Sun ahead by a point with less than two minutes left with a layup, but Ionescu immediately answered with one of her own and then hit a floater to put New York back ahead with four seconds left. The Sun had one final play in the game, but White said they couldn’t get the 3-point shot they were hoping for on the play.
Ionescu led New York in scoring with 21 points, and Stewart finished with a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. Jones was Connecticut’s second-leading scorer behind Bonner with 17 points, along with eight rebounds and two assists. Bonner led the Sun with nine rebounds in addition to a team-high in points.
