DiJonai Carrington, Sun lock down Mercury in dominant fashion

UNCASVILLE — With 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Rachel Banham picked her shot from beyond the arc and sprung the Connecticut Sun faithful to its feet with her eighth three-pointer of the game.

It was the exclamation point on what had already been a dominant showing on both ends of the court for Banham’s team.

The Sun topped the Phoenix Mercury 96-69 Sunday afternoon at Mohegan Sun Arena, improving to an 18-5 record in their last home game before the Olympic break.

Banham led the Sun with a season-high 24 points. The guard’s eight three-pointers marked a career high and tied the franchise high. Banham also became the bench player with the most threes made in WNBA history. Kahleah Copper paced Phoenix with 17 points.

DiJonai Carrington was all over the court and grabbed six offensive rebounds and five defensive rebounds as well as two steals while matched up against Copper.

Connecticut has now won four consecutive regular-season games against Phoenix and has not lost to the Mercury at Mohegan since September 2020.

While the Mercury got off to a quicker start than the Sun, Connecticut responded with a 9-0 run to close out the first quarter tied 20-20. DeWanna Bonner – who finished the game with 17 points – had nine in the first 10 minutes of play.

Banham exploded off the bench for 12 points in the second quarter as she went 4-for-7 from the three-point line, and finished the afternoon 8-for-11. Brionna Jones matched Banham’s 12 points by halftime along with four rebounds and one assist to put the Sun up 48-42 heading into the third quarter.

The Sun held the Mercury to nine points in the third quarter while scoring 19 of their own for the 67-51 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

Connecticut swiftly closed out the game, widened its advantage to over 20 points and mitigated any real Phoenix push in the latter half.

Brittney Griner was back in the lineup for Phoenix after leaving Friday’s game with a hip injury. The center posted 16 points, nine rebounds and one block Sunday. Natasha Cloud and Diana Taurasi also returned for the Mercury but it proved not enough.

The Sun will be back in action Tuesday against the New York Liberty for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Barclays Center. Connecticut last played New York on Wednesday and fell 71-68 in its second loss to the Liberty this season.

Connecticut will look to go into the break on a strong note before Alyssa Thomas represents Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games. Bonner and Jones were named to Team WNBA for the 2024 All-Star Game and will face Thomas and the women’s national team ahead of Paris.