Rachel Banham had the hot hand, drilling a career-best eight 3-pointers and scoring 24 points while Dijonai Carrington recorded her first career double-double (12 points, career-high 11 rebounds) as the Connecticut Sun rolled past the visiting Phoenix Mercury 96-69 Sunday afternoon.
Banham’s last 3-pointer came with 6.7 seconds to go as the Sun extended their lead to 96-67. She set the single-game WNBA record for 3-pointers in a game by a bench player.
Connecticut (18-5) utilized a balanced attack that also featured 17 points from DeWanna Bonner and 16 points out of Brionna Jones as the Sun improved to 3-0 this season against the Mercury (12-12).
Kaleah Copper led Phoenix with 17 points. Brittney Griner added 16 and Natasha Cloud scored 10 for the Mercury, who lost their second in a row.
Only ahead 48-42 at the half, the Sun turned the tide in the third quarter, outscoring the Mercury 19-9. The period ended with Bonner hitting a turnaround jumper as time expired as Connecticut led 67-51 going into the fourth.
Phoenix had the upper hand early, building an 18-9 lead with 3:40 left in the opening quarter. Copper fueled the charge with six points.
The momentum was soon ripped away as the Sun closed the quarter on an 11-2 run punctuated by Tiffany Mitchell’s off-balance shot with 53.9 to play that tied the game at 20-20.
Jones grabbed a rebound and was fouled trying to go back up for a shot, hitting two free throws to put the Sun up 31-29 with 5:44 to go. That was the start of a 7-0 run capped by Banham’s third 3-pointer of the quarter, giving Connecticut a 36-29 lead with 4:48 to play.
Banham hit her fourth shot from distance with 23 seconds left in the half and then almost knocked down a desperation 3-point shot at the buzzer before the ball bounced off the rim.
Connecticut took its first double-digit lead of the day with 8:57 remaining in the third when Carrington sank two free throws for a 52-42 cushion.
The Mercury failed to respond and trailed by as many as 23 in the second half.
–Field Level Media