– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
WASHINGTON — The Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington had a chance to give her team the lead, and quite possibly the win, with a free throw late in the fourth quarter on Thursday night, a shot that she missed. No worries, though, as she did everything in the overtime to make up for it.
Carrington scored 10 of her 22 points in the extra session, helping the Sun come from behind to defeat the Washington Mystics 94-91 inside Entertainment & Sports Arena on Thursday. DeWanna Bonner led all scorers with 24 points for the Sun, while Tyasha Harris 23 points to go along with four of her team’s 12 steals on the evening.
Washington, playing without three starters due to injury, held an 82-75 lead with 2:37 remaining in the fourth before the Sun closed the quarter by scoring the final seven points of regulation. Bonner made two free throws, and with just under a minute left, Harris knocked down a right wing three-pointer to cut Washington’s lead to 82-80. Alyssa Thomas then came up with a steal, and in transition, Carrington scored on a baseline drive to the basket while being fouled to tie the score.
Carrington, however, could not convert the three-point play as she missed the free throw, and after another Washington turnover on their final possession and a Bonner miss from three at the buzzer, the game went into overtime.
Carrington gave the Sun the lead for good with a three-pointer with 2:43 left in the extra session for an 87-85 lead, then came up with a steal and fast-break layup on the ensuing possession to push the lead to four. Her second three of the extra session, with 57 seconds remaining, once again pushed Connecticut’s lead to four at 92-88.
Myisha Hines-Allen converted a layup and hit a free throw for a three-point play to move Washington within one, but after a defensive stop from the Mystics, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough missed a deep jumper that could have given the Mystics the lead. Carrington was then fouled after grabbing the rebound, and her two free throws at the other end provided the final margin.
Hines-Allen led six Mystics players who scored in double figures with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Stefanie Dolson had 18 points while hitting four of her seven three-point attempts.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Yusuf Abdullah. 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 12 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
