UNCASVILLE — Despite starting on an early deficit for the third straight game, the Connecticut Sun remained undefeated in 2024 with a thrilling 83-82 overtime win over the Minnesota Lynx at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday.
Connecticut now stands alone at the top of the WNBA leaderboard as the only team with a perfect record. The New York Liberty suffered their first loss Thursday against the Chicago Sky to fall to 4-1, and no other one-loss team has played more than three games. The Sun’s next game is a road matchup against the Sky on Saturday.
The Sun continued their trend of sluggish starts, trailing Minnesota 23-14 at the end of the first quarter. Star forward Alyssa Thomas had one of her worst quarters of the season, logging just five points and a turnover, and the team struggled to find a rhythm offensively shooting just 5-for-14 on field goals with three turnovers. Meanwhile, former UConn star Napheesa Collier set the tone early for the Lynx with 11 points in the first quarter, and Minnesota shot 62.5% from the field as a team.
“I think our defense early — our energy on the defensive end, our execution on the defensive end, our sense of urgency on the defensive end — hasn’t been there, particularly on ball screen actions,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “You see a difference when we impose our will and we dictate versus when we when we react, and we were really reactive in that first quarter.”
Connecticut started building momentum early in the second quarter, beginning on a 20-3 run behind seven unanswered points from Brionna Jones. Though the All-Star center is still on limited playing time as she recovers from her Achilles rupture last June, she was the Sun’s leading scorer at halftime with 11 points in…
Chris Paul smiles during a charity game held at Winston-Salem State University in 2011. | Photo Courtesy of HBCU Gameday