– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — Just as it looked as if one of the Connecticut Sun’s few legitimate opportunities at a victory this season was starting to slip away from its fingers, their veteran and future Hall-of-Famer was on hand at the perfect time to steady the ship and bring the victory home.
Tina Charles scored five of her 15 points on back-to-back possessions midway through the fourth quarter to give the Connecticut Sun some breathing room late during their 68-63 victory over the Chicago Sky inside Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday evening. Rookie Leila Lacan, making her sixth start of the season, led the Sun with 17 points while Marina Mabrey added 10 as Connecticut snapped a five-game losing streak.
Connecticut took advantage of not having to see Angel Reese, who missed her sixth consecutive game for Chicago with a back injury, and raced out to a 55-34 lead midway through the third quarter. However, the Sky started the fourth on an 11-0 run, and when Kamilla Cardoso made two free throws with just under six minutes to go, Chicago was within four at 60-56.
Charles answered with a three-pointer, and after a defensive stand that featured an Aneesah Morrow block, Charles once again scored on a jumper to push the lead back to nine.
Saniya Rivers had a key steal late while a Lacan layup at the 2-minute mark helped seal the victory.
Cardoso led the Sky with 24 points while also grabbing nine rebounds. Elizabeth Williams had 12 points and 15 rebounds while Rachel Banham hit three three-pointers on her way to 10 points.
Chicago’s Rebecca Allen and Connecticut’s Bria Hartley were ejected after getting into a shoving match in the second quarter, while the Sky’s Ariel Atkins also was given a technical foul and ejected for her role in escalating the skirmish. The Sky only had eight players available in the second half.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by New England-based photographer Joseph Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 33 pictures in total.
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