Connecticut Sun beat Atlanta Dream 75-73 in a close finish – WNBA Recap
On Sunday night at the Philips Arena, Connecticut Sun came out 75-73 winners over Atlanta Dream courtesy of late charge capped off by Tina Charles hitting two free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining on the clock.
Charles who finished the game with 23 points did double damage in the game by also grabbing a phenomenal 22 rebounds on the night;
“We definitely put ourselves in a hole,'' Charles said. “I think the key is just to stay poised and together out there. We just have to know that we can always win.''
Renee Montgomery also put up an impressive performance while coming off the bench to rack up 19 points in the game while Kara Lawson chipped in with 11 points and 4 assists. The win for the Sun helped them maintain their perfect
record in the Eastern Conference (7-0).
For the Atlanta side, Armintie Price put up 20 points, Sancho Lyttle contributed 15 points while Lindsey Harding had 13 points. Their performances were however not enough and the absence of league’s highest scorer Angel McCoughtry
also hurt them. McCoughtry sat out the game with a sprained knee.
“The obvious difference is they didn't have Angel in the lineup, and you have to credit them for really outplaying us for the better part of the game,'' Lawson said. ``They played with great energy and forced us into kind of a
different mode offensively.''
Connecticut dug them-selves into an hole in the game by turning the ball over 24 times in the game which was the main reason for them to be trailing so late in the game. But they eventually were able to cope up for it by cleaning
up the glass.
Sun grabbed their most crucial rebound in the game when Montgomery missed a jump shot but lucky for them the ball fell into Charles`s hands for her 6th offensive rebound. She got fouled on the play by price to make a
successful trip to the free throw line.
A poor start to the game was another reason for the Connecticut team to chasing Atlanta`s tale throughout the night. They quickly found them-selves down 2-8 in the game and were facing a 20-11 deficit after the opening period.
The best Connecticut were able to do in the second quarter was to cut the lead down to 3 at the 3:35 mark courtesy of a 13-1 run. However the Atlanta side maintained their cool and led 39-36 at the half.
Throughout the third quarter both teams went head to head with each other with Atlanta pulling ahead by as many as 7 at one point. Connecticut however closed out the quarter with a 9-4 run to pull back to within 2.
It took the Sun almost 8 and half minutes in the fourth period to successfully make a comeback to tie the game up at 73 before eventually going on to win the matchup.
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