Brionna Jones registered 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench to help the Connecticut Sun post an 88-69 victory over the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night at Uncasville, Conn.
Reigning WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones added 16 points and nine rebounds as the Sun earned their fourth consecutive win and their sixth in the past seven outings.
DeWanna Bonner and DiJonai Cunningham had 12 points apiece and Alyssa Thomas contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Connecticut (10-3).
No. 2 overall pick NaLyssa Smith recorded 19 points and seven rebounds and Danielle Robinson added 12 points for the Fever (3-11), who have lost four straight games and nine of their past 10. Queen Egbo had 10 points for Indiana.
Fever star Kelsey Mitchell had just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting. Mitchell entered the contest as the league’s third-leading scorer at 19.5 points per game. She has posted eight games with 20 or more points this season.
The Sun made 47 percent of their field-goal attempts but were just 5 of 17 (29.4 percent) from 3-point range.
Indiana made 37.5 percent of its shots and was a shaky 3 of 21 (14.3 percent) from behind the arc.
The Fever trailed 65-57 after Robinson’s basket early in the fourth quarter. Connecticut responded with a 9-4 run and took a 74-61 lead on a 3-pointer by Joyner Holmes with 4:44 left to play.
A short time later, Holmes capped a 7-0 burst with a basket to make it 81-63 with 2:01 remaining. Holmes later drained a 3-pointer to give the Sun a game-high 22-point lead.
Jonquel Jones had 10 first-half points to help the Sun hold a 48-37 halftime lead.
Connecticut was in front 22-19 after the first quarter, then used a 15-4 burst to open up a 40-25 advantage before taking the 11-point lead into the break.
The Fever trailed 57-48 after Smith’s basket with 4:22 left in the third quarter, but the Sun finished strong to take a 65-53 lead into the final stanza.
–Field Level Media