Danielle McCray drops 22 points as Connecticut Sun beat Indiana Fever, 76-71 – WNBA Recap
On Sunday night, Danielle McCray made only her second career start and showed why the Connecticut Sun made a wise decision by selecting her as the seventh overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft.
McCray pounded a career-high 22 points as Connecticut Sun squeaked out a hard-fought 76-71 victory over the WNBA-leading Indiana Fever at Mohegan Sun Arena. McCray shot 7 for 10 from the field including a brilliant 6 for 8 from
three-point range.
Connecticut coach Mike Thibault was ecstatic about McCray’s performance, “When we drafted her we felt she had a chance to be a really good player but when you come in as a rookie I think it is important to give them as much as
they can take and let them find their way and then when you know matured, then you kind of let them have more.”
After having won seven games in a row, this was the second consecutive defeat for Fever. However, they are still ahead of Connecticut by two games in the Eastern Conference.
Tina Charles recorded a double-double with 18 points, including 8 for 14 from the field, and a team-high 14 rebounds in the second consecutive victory of Connecticut. Renee Montgomery added 10 points, seven assists and two steals
for the Sun, who are the only team in the East, undefeated at home so far in this season (6-0).
Tamika Catchings scored a team-high 18 points, shooting 6 for 11 from the floor, and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds in the losing effort. Catchings also had three steals and pinned 5 of 7 free throws. Katie Douglas had 12 points
and six rebounds while Jessica Davenport tallied 10 points for Indiana.
Connecticut shot 43.5 percent (27 for 62) from the field and 68.2 percent (15 for 22|) from free throw line. Fever, on the other hand, shot 42.6 percent (29 for 68) from the floor and 57.1 percent (8 for 14) from the line.
Charles scored 10 of her 18 points in the first half of the game as Connecticut held a 10-point lead, 42-32, at halftime.
Indiana came out strong in the third quarter and outscored Sun 23-16 and cut Connecticut’s lead to just three points, 58-55, heading into the fourth.
Sun however bounced back and opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to stretch their lead to 65-57. Fever gave a tough time to Connecticut down the stretch and Catchings’ lay-up with 28 seconds to go trimmed the deficit to two,
but Connecticut responded with three consecutive points to seal the victory.
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