UNCASVILLE — The Connecticut Sun looked the equals of the third-place Atlanta Dream for three and a half quarters, but the team couldn’t carry the momentum through the final buzzer in a 93-76 loss on Monday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
It was the Sun’s second straight loss after falling to the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, and they will face the Dream twice more in the last four regular-season games of 2025.
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“I think we lost against Minnesota because they were a better team and they played a better game than us, but I think (Monday) that wasn’t the case,” Sun coach Rachid Meziane said. “Atlanta is a great team, but we showed very good things in the first half and then we forgot our toughness in the locker room. We didn’t come back in the second half with what was required to win this game.
“It was a winnable game. We stopped playing defense in the last quarter, and we gave up the game.”
On the day the Sun were giving away bobbleheads of veteran Tina Charles, the UConn legend delivered 22 points and eight rebounds while shooting 50% from the field. Rookie Leila Lacan had another standout performance with 17 points, four assists, two steals and a block, and Marina Mabrey added 12 points plus three assists.
It wasn’t enough to overcome a balanced effort from Atlanta’s trio of All-Stars. Rhyne Howard led the Dream with 23 points, three assists and two steals, while MVP candidate Allisha Gray added 17 points plus five rebounds. Former Connecticut star Brionna Jones posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Atlanta finished with five players scoring in double-digits, also getting 17 points from forward Naz Hillmon and 15 from guard Jordin Canada off the bench in her first appearance since a hamstring injury on Aug. 10.
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“That group, that core of Naz and Allisha and Rhyne, they’re all best friends, all there for each other and they hold each other accountable,” said Charles, who played for Atlanta in 2024. “They take constructive criticism really well, they all just want to be great, and they’re very unselfish. … Seeing them turn the corner this late in the season and them being in the playoff hunt and being in the top three is just really great to see. They’re going to be a hard matchup for the teams in the playoffs.”
The Sun led for nearly the entire first quarter getting out to a hot offensive start from the field. The team shot 56.2% from the field, but Atlanta took a late lead after it began to heat up from 3-point range. Howard hit her first of the game after an 0-for-3 start to give the Dream their first lead of the game in the final two minutes, and Connecticut went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter.
Atlanta continued to roll into the second quarter, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute, opening up a seven-point lead. But after forcing just a single turnover in the first, the Sun turned up the defensive heat to generate their transition offense. Rookie forward Aneesah Morrow shifted the momentum back in Connecticut’s favor with a steal that she converted for an and-1 hook shot at the other end, and she also made a critical block against Te-Hina Paopao a minute later to prevent the Dream from regaining a two-score lead.
The Sun also held Atlanta without a field goal for nearly five minutes heading to finish the half, going on a 10-2 run to open its largest lead of the game and enter halftime ahead 48-42.
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The Dream responded early in the third quarter, which became a nonstop back-and-forth with four ties and five lead changes. Connecticut continued its cold streak from beyond the arc going the entire second half without a make on five attempts, though they managed to also limit Atlanta to just two 3-pointers in the third. Rookie Saniya Rivers grabbed her second steal of the game and took it coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beater layup to end the quarter, sending the Sun into the fourth trailing 68-67.
But Connecticut struggled to adjust to a tight whistle from the officials all game, and foul trouble ultimately cost them badly down the stretch. The Sun gave up 23 points on free throws while getting to the line just 14 times for 12 points in comparison. Frustration and fatigue started to show as Atlanta widened its lead to 11 points with under three minutes to play after a 9-0 run, and Connecticut didn’t hit another field goal until there was less than a minute remaining on the clock.
“We were late every time (defensively),” Meziane said. “We stayed behind, we didn’t put pressure on the passers, on the ball, so a small advantage becomes a big advantage. We just went after the ball, and they got what they wanted and found what they wanted. It’s about toughness, and for sure you can work on that in practice, but it starts with just taking some pride on defense.”
