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ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The Sun dominated the Wings from start to finish en route to a 85-67 win, improving to a league-best 12-1 record—and their best start in franchise history.
Connecticut jumped out to a double-digit lead in the opening period, and never looked back, outscoring the Wings by 10 in the first quarter and by 12 in the third quarter. The hot start—the team’s second in a row—was a marked improvement from the slower starts that plagued them earlier in the season.
“Always for us, it’s defense—defensive intensity,” said Rachel Banham, who scored a team-high 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting off the bench. “Our emphasis has been starting the game strongly, and our starters did such a good job these last two games—we have come out and dominated from the jump.”
Alyssa Thomas once again flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds and 9 assists, along with a game-high plus-minus of plus-20. “We were locked in, attention to detail,” Thomas said. “I think a lot of times it’s just us not making shots early, and they’re making shots. Today was just a good day for us.” Brionna Jones added 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals, Ty Harris finished with 10 points and four assists, and DeWanna Bonner had eight points and eight rebounds.
The win marks the team’s third-consecutive victory since they suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Liberty on June 8. The Sun are now 5-0 on the road—the only team in the WNBA with an undefeated away record. “I’m proud of our group,” Sun head coach Stephanie White said. “Any time you go on the road, it’s tough. It’s tough to win on the road. It’s tough to win against those really good teams in this league, and Dallas is one of those really good teams.”
DiJonai Carrington sets the tone defensively
As she’s been all year, DiJonai Carrington was dominant defensively, helping hold Wings All-Star Arike Ogunbowale to 11 points on 2-for-15 shooting. Carrington has routinely stifled opposing stars this season, whether that’s Caitlin Clark, Ogunbowale, or another high-scoring guard.
“She changes the game for us because of her defensive effort and energy,” White said of Carrington. “It’s a lot to have to always guard the opponent’s best perimeter player. You don’t get plays off, you don’t get possessions off. For her, establishing herself with what she did on the defensive end today was huge for us.”
At the same time, Carrington was also major contributor on the offensive end, finishing with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting. She’s now averaging 12.5 points per game on 41.7 percent shooting on the season, both career highs. “She is so good at getting out of transition,” White said. “She’s so good off of the ball, with her cutting and making herself available. She’s been instrumental in our start this year, and her consistency has been terrific.”
The Sun bench is settling in
On Saturday, Banham led the Sun with 16 points, her highest-scoring game of the season. That performance came just days after back-to-back double-digit scoring performances for fellow bench player Tiffany Mitchell, who had 12 points against the Liberty on Saturday and 10 points against the Fever on Monday.
“I think we’re still trying to find our rhythm at times—just being a part of different groups and finding where we fit,” Banham said of her and Mitchell’s acclimation. “But I think the staff and the players that we’re with are really helping put us in positions where we need to be.”
“We’re putting Tiff in spots where she can drive, areas where I can get shots off for playing the two-man,” Banham said. “I think we’re slowly starting to figure out for our bench, because at the end of the day we have to be able to help them our when they need rest, and they need to sit on the bench a little. I feel like we’re slowly figuring it out, but I think that we still have more to give.”
Despite the dominant 12-1 record, the Sun still don’t believe they are playing their best basketball. “For us, it’s about just continuing to stack days to be the most consistent, best team that we can be,” White said. “We haven’t really put together a four a full 40-minute game yet. That’s our goal.”