Alyssa Thomas is playing her best basketball at the moment and hopes to continue trending up, much like her Connecticut Sun thus far this season.
The next chance to do it is Sunday afternoon when the Sun (5-1) host the Dallas Wings (3-2) at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Connecticut has won two in a row, including an 89-84 road victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night.
Thomas set a single-game franchise record for assists (16) in the win to go along with 16 points and nine rebounds, nearly recording the fifth triple-double of her career.
“Anytime you get any type of franchise record, it’s a huge honor, but I mean a lot of credit goes to my teammates,” she told the Hartford Courant. “They were really knocking down shots and without them, I don’t get this (record).”
Dallas is looking to slow down the Sun and get back on track after a tough 75-74 loss to the Washington Mystics on Friday night in the nation’s capital.
The Wings shot just 34.2 percent from the floor as they fell to 1-2 in road games this season despite double-digit scoring efforts from Arike Ogunbowale (18), Satou Sabally (18) and Natasha Howard (16).
Dallas coach Latricia Trammell was encouraged by her team’s effort.
“I love the fight in this team. As you know, we had opportunities to win it,” she said after the game.
Trammell believes her team is more than capable of shaking off the tough shooting night. Dallas has connected on 41 percent of its shots this season.
“I just don’t see our team missing those open looks like we did tonight consistently,” Trammell said. “I mean, this team, we’re averaging before this, second in the league in scoring, averaging 90-plus points. I just told the team to keep shooting.”
The Wings are averaging 87.2 points through their first five games. The Sun are putting up 78.8 and aim to improve to 3-0 at home.
–Field Level Media