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The Connecticut Sun stays undefeated in a nail biter against the Atlanta Dream 65-59.
The Sun (5-0) was led by Jonquel Jones, who ended up with a double-double. She scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebound making her presence felt.
Atlanta (1-4) played much better in the loss than in the past getting effort and lots of energy from everyone. “I like the fact that we were aggressive, we have to do better when we touch the paint,” stated coach Nicki Collen.
From the open tip, the Sun started the game on a 19-4 run shooting 72% from the floor. Jones led them with a quick five points.
Tiffany Hays and Brittney Sykes jumpstarted the Dream after every other starter besides Hays was subbed in for. The Dream cut the lead to nine points. Both players ended up with 14 points to lead the team.
“The only reason why we lost is because we started really bad,” said Hays. “We just have to put a whole game together and get one.”
Connecticut was able to take advantage of the pick-and-roll. Jones benefited form it scoring 10 first half point as they went into halftime with a 44-32 lead.
In the beginning of the second half, Hays scored four quick points to help the Dream to cut the lead to 49-45. The Sun got in the penalty with over six minutes left in the third but Atlanta wasn’t able to capitalize from it.
The fourth quarter started with the Dream going on a 7-1 run with Brittney Sykes scoring five points during the stretch. With 6:03 left in the fourth quarter, Alex Bentley tied the game with a jumper.
Both teams struggled to take the lead for several minutes. With 1:41 left, Jones hit a three-pointer to push the lead back up to six for the Sun which sealed the game.
The next opponent for the dream is against the Dallas Stars (0-4) on the road.
