WNBA - Connecticut Sun Achieves Third Victory by Beating the San Antonio Silver Stars

The current 5th place of the Eastern Conference, the Connecticut Sun, achieved its third victory of the season by beating the San Antonio Silver Stars 71-58 this past Sunday. 

The Sun’s rookie Chante Black enjoyed the game to the fullest until she got injured late in the third quarter when she felt down and hurt her left elbow, after having given her biggest contribution yet to the team. Nevertheless, that bad moment didn’t stop the Sun to get the victory and had a great contribution from Asjha Jones, who scored 19 points and ended with six rebounds to close the game for Connecticut.

During the first quarter, both teams entered aggressively in the game. Connecticut started with a three-point shot but then the Silver Stars reacted with a good 8-0 run that gave San Antonio a lead of 6 points with 5:17 left in the quarter. Although, some good shots of Connecticut put the score 15-15 to begin the second quarter just like the opening one. Then, some great movements of Black and Jones gave Connecticut a lead of 10 points. The Silver Stars didn’t score for a period of 3:25’, which gave Black, Jones and the rest of the Sun and easy advantage.

In the second half, Sophia Young cut the lead with two great shots in the first few minutes of the third quarter, cutting down the score to just 4 points. However a great run of 9-0 gave back a good advantage of 13 points to Connecticut. The Silver Stars tried to react but they couldn’t score easily and with just a few free throws of Darling, San Antonio ended losing in the third quarter 48-56.

During the last quarter, the Silver Stars tried to cut the lead but a more consistent and aggressive Connecticut closed the game with a convincing 71-58 score.

At the end of the game, the coach of San Antonio Dan Hughes expressed that Connecticut did a great job outrebounding them.  "I thought we competed well in our situation, but Connecticut played well enough to win. They did a good job of having timely plays. Their ability to get to the glass was probably the separation factor today," said Coach Hughes.

In addition, Coach Mike Thibault stated that the good plays of his team in the last minutes of the game, gave them an advantage and their third victory of the season.

The best scorers for the Connecticut Sun were Asjha Jones with 19 points, 3 assists and 6 rebounds, Chante Black with 11 points and 8 rebounds and Erin Phillips with 11 points and 4 rebounds. For the Silver Stars the best scorers were Sophia Young with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks, Ruth Riley with 10 points, 2 assists and 7 rebounds and finally Helen Darling with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

The next game for the Sun will be against Indiana on July 2nd whereas for the San Antonio Silver Stars their next game will be against the Phoenix Mercury on June 23rd.