Rachel Banham poured in 16 points off the bench to lead a balanced Connecticut offensive attack as the visiting Sun rolled to an 85-67 victory over the reeling Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
The Sun (a WNBA-best 12-1) won their third straight game after their only loss of the season and continue to add to their best start to a season. Connecticut never trailed on Saturday, building a 10-point lead after a quarter and carrying that to halftime before outscoring the Wings by 12 in the third period to remove any notion of a Dallas comeback.
DiJonai Carrington added 14 points for the Sun, with Alyssa Thomas racking up 13 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, Brionna Jones scoring 12 points and Tyasha Harris hitting for 10.
Teaira McCowan and Maddy Siegrist paced Dallas (3-9) with 16 points each while Arike Ogunbowale had 11. It was the first time this season Ogunbowale was not the Wings’ leading scorer and snapped a streak of 11 consecutive games with 20 or more points for the Dallas star.
Dallas (3-9) has dropped seven consecutive games. Saturday’s point total was the Wings’ lowest in 2024.
The Sun took control from the jump, scoring the game’s first 10 points over the initial two and a half minutes and building a 15-point lead when Thomas banked in a jumper at the 1:54 mark of the opening quarter. Dallas responded, clawing back to within 27-17 thanks to three free throws by Ogunbowale with 0.2 seconds left in the period.
Connecticut held the Wings at bay throughout the second period, rebuilding its lead to as many as 13 points on a pair of free throws by Jones with 4:11 to play in the quarter. Dallas closed to within seven points on a putback layup by McCowan with 2:45 remaining before the Sun closed the half on a 7-4 run that netted them a 43-33 advantage at the break.
Up 55-43 late in the third, the Sun outscored Dallas 13-3 to close out the quarter.
Jones and Carrington scored 10 points each before halftime to lead all scorers while Ogunbowale and McCowan tallied eight apiece for the Wings. Dallas was just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc in the half.
–Field Level Media