Chelsea Gray, Aces out to take down WNBA-leading Sun

The Connecticut Sun, off to their best start in franchise history at 13-1, will face the defending WNBA champion Aces on Friday night at Las Vegas.

The matchup will also be the first time the Sun travel farther west than Dallas this season. The Sun then head to Seattle on Sunday to face the Storm.

Connecticut, which has won eight of its first nine home games, is unbeaten (5-0) on the road.

The Aces (7-6) have won two of their last three games after their first three-game losing streak since 2019. They are 4-4 at home.

They already matched last season’s loss total when they finished 34-6.

For Las Vegas, the season debut of point guard Chelsea Gray in Wednesday’s 94-83 home victory over the Storm was a promising development. Gray had been out with a foot injury suffered in last year’s WNBA Finals.

She scored only one point but had seven assists, four rebounds and two blocks in 15 1/2 minutes.

“I probably went through every emotion leading up to today,” Gray said. “I was a little anxious all day. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out on that court. But the fans were amazing from the time I came out to warm up to the time I checked in the game. It was a rush and a feeling I missed a lot.”

Connecticut, which has the WNBA’s best record, is coming off 79-70 home win against the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday. The victory extended the Sun’s winning streak to four.

Connecticut led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter after Sparks rookie post player Cameron Brink suffered a torn ACL injury in the first quarter.

All five Sun starters scored in double figures led by Dewanna Bonner’s 16 points. Tyasha Harris added 14, Brionna Jones 13, DiJonai Carrington 12 and Alyssa Thomas 11.

“Still always room for improvement,” Bonner said. “These are games we’re supposed to win. When you have nights like this, when everyone is contributing, this is what we want to see in every game. We just have to continue building on this.”

–Field Level Media