The Connecticut Sun eked out a thrilling 79-78 win over the defending

WNBA champion Seattle Storm on Friday night.





UNCASVILLE—Shekinna Stricklen scored a season-high 24 points, including two clutch free throws at the end of the game, to lead the Shekinna Stricklen scored a season-high 24 points, including two clutch free throws at the end of the game, to lead the Connecticut Sun to a 79-78 win over the Seattle Storm before 7,092 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. Seattle’s Natasha Howard led all scorers with 27 points, while Jewell Loyd added 15 and Crystal Langhorne 14 for the Storm, who fell to 14-13. Besides Stricklen, who scored in double digits for the eighth time this season, the Thomas girls, Alyssa (17) and Jasmine (11) scored in double digits for the home team. Alyssa Thomas added 11 boards for her fifth double-double of the 2019 campaign.





To call this one exciting doesn’t do the game justice. The Sun led by four points, 21-17, at the first turn, but the Storm turned up the voltage in the second period and took a 46-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.





The visitors kept it going immediately after intermission, taking the largest lead of the contest, 61-48, late in the third. And that’s when that certain something that championship caliber teams finally kicked in. The Sun finished the third stanza outscoring the defending WNBA champs by eight points to cut the visitors’ lead to five at the third turn, making it very much a game.





Stricklen led the third period charge with a nine-point explosion. But the game was still up for grabs at the fourth turn, and it was imperative that the Sun keep up the heat in the final quarter. And that’s exactly what they did.





However, Seattle was able to hold on to the lead for most of the fourth stanza until the Sun, down by seven with 1:47 to play, went on their winning run. During that stretch, Alyssa Thomas had two points, a block and a steal, Courtney Williams had two steals and Shekinna Stricklen had a steal and calmly dropped in two from the charity stripe with the Sun down by one and just 4.3 ticks left in regulation to seal the deal for Connecticut.





“What do you say? Gritty, gutty, ugly, pretty—lots of adjectives [to use],” said a relieved Sun head coach Curt Miller after his team eked out the victory. “Maybe the basketball God's looking down. A lot of 50/50 calls were going our way tonight. We rode our starters the entire second half—challenged them to muster up energy, which is not easy after a three-game West Coast road trip.” In fact, this was Connecticut’s first game back home after four road contests—New York, Minnesota, Las Vegas and Phoenix. The Sun were 2-2 on that grueling trip.





Miller went on to note that his team, renowned for its defense, was on pace to hold Seattle to under 70 points for three quarters but was undermined by a 29-point second-period performance by the Storm. He attributed that to fatigue.





“You could feel it in the first quarter, which I shared with them,” added Miller. “We were trading too much, and I knew our energy wasn't where it was supposed to be. And when we started to miss some shots in the second quarter… what I was feeling in the first quarter really came true.”

But, as is usually the case, it was defense that ultimately paved the way to victory for Connecticut. Miller pointed to 27 turnovers as they key factor in his team’s victory.





“I'm just really, really proud of them,” he continued. “How they came through there at the end and a second half that they were able to compete in.”





Seattle, which was playing without UConn superstars Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart—both out for the season with injuries, was led by Natasha Howard with a double-double (11-for-15 from the field for 27 points, to go along with 10 rebounds). Jewell Loyd and Crystal Langhorne added 15 and 14 points respectively for the defending champs, who fell to 14-13. While Bird and Stewie were not playing, another former Husky star, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, was active and scored five points and grabbed on rebound for Seattle (aka "UConn West").





For Connecticut, Stricklen’s 24-point performance included three from beyond the arc. The Thomas girls—Alyssa and Jasmine—both scored in double digits with 17 and 11 points respectively. Seattle out-rebounded the home team by a 35-20 margin. Alyssa Thomas, however, was the game’s leading rebounder, grabbing 11 boards.





“We got aggressive on defense,” said Stricklen, describing her team’s fourth-quarter comeback. “[Alyssa Thomas] made some steals, Courtney [Williams] got some steals down the stretch. I mean, we had to start pressuring and we made them turn it over. I think they got a little rattled the last minute and then we got a good call at the end. And then [we] got two free throws and made them and AT sealed the game with a steal."





The Sun also had a season-high 19 steals—including 10 in the fourth quarter. Jonquel Jones, who scored nine points, had three steals to boost her career total to 102 swipes.





With the win, the Sun, who are in second place in the WNBA standings—one game behind the Washington Mystics—improved to 18-8, while the Storm, ranked No. 6 in the league, fell to 14-13. Next up for the Sun will be a home game against the Dallas Wings on Sunday. Tip-off is at 3 p.m., and the game will be televised on NESN+ and streamed on WNBA League Pass





Sun To Honor Whalen





Former Sun star Lindsay Whalen (left) will be honored

on Friday night when the Sun entertain Las Vegas.

This coming Friday, Aug. 23, the Sun will celebrate the career of WNBA legend Lindsay Whalen on August 23 when they entertain the Las Vegas Aces at 7:30 p.m. Whalen’s No. 13 will join Margo Dydek (12), Nykesha Sales (42) and Katie Douglas (23) in the rafters during a special ceremony at. Whalen, who led the Sun to their two WNBA Finals appearances in 2004 and 2005, will also p­articipate in a special question and answer session, moderated by LaChina Robinson, after the ceremony on court. Joining Whalen will be former teammates Douglas and Sales.





Whalen is the winningest player in WNBA history, playing on a winning team in 325 WNBA regular season games. Her 2,348 assists rank third in WNBA history. A Minnesota native, Whalen went on to win four WNBA championships with her home-state Lynx (along with UConn legend Maya Moore) after leaving the Sun.





Whalen, a five-time All-WNBA honoree, won two Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016) and two World Championship gold medals (2010, 2014) as a member of USA Basketball. She is currently head women's basketball coach at her alma mater, the University of Minnesota.