Tina Charles stars as Connecticut Sun thump Tulsa Shock 86-75 - WNBA Recap
On Friday night, Connecticut Sun handed a 86-75 defeat to Tulsa Shock.
Tina Charles was on song on the night. She posted her 55th career
double-double with 24 points and 10 boards in this game. Connecticut coach was all praise for Tina.
“She was good down the stretch,'' Mike Thibault said of Charles. ``She really wanted the ball.''
Asjha Jones was also in the mix with 14 points and 10 boards. Kara Lawson scored 14 points while Mistie Mims added 10 points for Sun, who won their second game in a row.
For Tulsa, only two players could score in double figures with Ivory Latta leading with 24 points while Kayla Pedersen tallied 10 points to go with 5 assists.
Tulsa were only 39.4% from the field while Sun shot 46 percent. They were hot in the first frame, converting 64.7 percent of their shots while Tulsa managed just 21.1 in the same passage. Tulsa Coach Gary Kloppenburg
termed the first quarter performance as the difference between the two sides on the night;
“That really was the difference, the slow start,'' Kloppenburg said. ``We're just not good enough to have lapses like that.''
Sun opened the game on an 11-2 burst and stretched it down to 14-5 deep into the 1st frame. Shock could only reduce the gap to 20-10, when Connecticut came up with a 5-0 run and capped
of the frame at 25-10.
Tulsa opened the 2nd period on a huge 17-2 spurt and tied the scores at 27 each. Sun blasted their way out of the stalemate by using a 15-5 burst and went on to conclude the opening half
at 46-34.
Shock came up with another huge 18-9 run early in the third and narrowed down the gap to 52-55. But Connecticut replied with an 11-2 spurt and redeemed their double-digit, 66-54, lead by the end of 3rd period.
The double-digit lead allowed Sun to cruise through the last segment. With 3:29 left on the clock, Connecticut were enjoying a 75-67 lead and outscored Shock 11-5 in the ensuing passage to balloon their advantage
to 86-72. After that it was just a matter of playing through the motions.
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