The Connecticut Sun want to be tuning up for the playoffs, so getting things back together is one of the priorities after nearly a weeklong break in the schedule.
The Sun meet the visiting Dallas Wings on Friday night at Uncasville, Conn.
The Sun (21-9) will try to avoid what would be the team’s first three-game losing streak of the season. This will be Connecticut’s only home contest during a seven-game stretch.
“Every game, every possession matters,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “You really have to be playing the best basketball, the most cohesive basketball of the season. We have to make sure we’re physically as well as mentally ready for a playoff push.”
Connecticut won the first two meetings against the Wings (16-14) by a combined 11 points before Dallas turned that around with last Saturday’s 91-81 victory.
Satou Sabally matched a career high with 28 points in the Wings’ win.
“That we can do it, that we belong,” Sabally said of the impact of that result. “You just continue to believe in ourselves, and I think (that game) was proof of that.”
That was the most recent game for both teams. The Wings, who had lost three straight prior to that outcome, received 23 points from Arike Ogunbowale.
Dallas coach Latricia Trammell and White are potential contenders for WNBA Coach of the Year honors, so they know how to get their respective teams going in the right direction.
White said the Sun have the right combinations and there are generally enough players ready to pick up the team when necessary.
Alyssa Thomas has been a stat-stuffer for the Sun, and she had a strong showing with a season-high 26 points last weekend versus the Wings.
Connecticut will look to get DeWanna Bonner on track Friday. She finished with just three points on Saturday, which was well below her average of 18.3 entering the game.
“We’ve got to figure out what’s best for our team,” White said. “The thing we ask for, as coaches, is consistency.”
Dallas could have forward Awak Kuier available for more minutes. She was coming off an ankle injury last weekend and played only two minutes against Connecticut.
–Field Level Media
