An injury to star DeWanna Bonner could make it difficult for the Connecticut Sun to avoid dropping back-to-back games for only the second time this season.
Meanwhile, it’s been more than a week since the Dallas Wings won a game.
The potentially short-handed Sun look to hand the host Wings a season-high fourth straight defeat on Saturday night at Arlington, Texas.
For just the third time in the last 12 games, Connecticut (21-8) experienced defeat. The most recent one came on Tuesday, when Phoenix scored a WNBA-record 45 points in the first quarter to hand the Sun a 90-84 road loss. It didn’t help that Bonner (18.3 points per game) left early in the contest with a back issue.
“(The Mercury) came out and they just knocked us in the mouth,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “We spent the whole game trying to recover.
“Our energy has to be better to start.”
It won’t be easy if Bonner can’t play. She totaled 54 points in the Sun’s two victories this season over Dallas. However, fellow Sun star Alyssa Thomas has averaged 17.0 points, 12.8 rebounds and 9.4 assists in her last five games.
Connecticut ranks fourth in the league averaging 83.9 points, which doesn’t bode well for Dallas, which allowed 104 points during each loss amid their three-game skid, all at home. The Wings last won Aug. 2, taking a 76-65 road decision against the Seattle Storm.
Dallas (15-14) trailed by as many as 41 during Tuesday’s 104-84 loss to the Las Vegas Aces, who went 16 of 32 from 3-point range.
“The most you can do is be more focused,” said Dallas’ Kalani Brown, who has totaled 29 points in the last two games. “I think we just have to go back to the drawing board and find ourselves, defensively. (But), it doesn’t get easier.”
Dallas star Arike Ogunbowale (20.8 points per game) has averaged just 12.3 points in her last three contests but scored 25 during an 88-83 home loss to Connecticut on July 25.
Meanwhile, teammate Satou Sabally (18.0 points) has totaled 46 in the last two contests. She scored a combined 42 points with 27 rebounds in two games against Connecticut this season.
–Field Level Media
