Aug. 25—MOHEGAN — It was news to Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller when he found out over an hour before Tuesday night’s game that his team would clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Las Vegas Aces.
Miller said he wasn’t going to tell his team.
He lied.
“Trust me, he made us aware,” the Sun’s DeWanna Bonner said with a grin. “We were like, ‘OK, we just want to win.'”
The Sun went out and once again got the league’s highest-scoring team stuck in mud. They won 76-62 in a battle between first-place teams to sweep the three-game regular-season series with the Aces before 4,012 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Connecticut (18-6) its sixth straight game, a season high. It was also the third time this season it held Las Vegas under 70 points. The latter had averaged a league-high 90.5 points.
“So proud of our effort, our tenacity, our toughness tonight against an elite team,” Miller said. “They play at the fastest pace. They’re the league-leaders in points in the paint You name it, offensively, analytically, they’re the best in the league. And they have great depth.
“For us to hold them again in the 60s is just a credit to how hard we play (defensively).”
Connecticut also took sole control of first place after the Minnesota Lynx knocked off the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm 76-70. The Sun has a one-game lead over both teams with eight games to go.
Seattle swept the Sun this season.
Bonner scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half along with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals for Connecticut.
Briann January had the hot hand in the first half for the Sun. She scored 12 of her season-high 19 in that half and added three steals.
Brionna Jones had 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals, Jonquel Jones…