By Sarah Disbro

In a competitive game from start to finish, the Sky fell to the Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena 62-71 on Wednesday night. Chicago surged back in the fourth quarter after being down by 21 points, but Connecticut held strong to secure the win. 

Both teams came to play as they traded baskets to open up the first quarter with the Sky trailing by three points heading into the second. An intense second quarter saw both teams have players ejected. Connecticut responded by holding Chicago to just 10 points, taking a 14 point lead into halftime. Despite Kamilla Cardoso scoring 18 of her 24 points in the second half, the Sun’s defense proved to be too much as the Sky lost their third straight game.

Cardoso produced another standout performance as she led the team with her 24 points along with nine rebounds and three assists. Elizabeth Williams posted her third double-double of the month, finishing with 12 points and tying her season-high with15 rebounds. Rachel Banham was the third Sky player in double-digits, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds. 

“We need her to do it,” Banham said about Cardoso’s performance. “She’s good enough to do it, and she’s going to continue to get better, so we really rely on her to be aggressive down low. I’m really proud of her, the bounce back that she had, and just being aggressive today.” 

The Sky provided drama late in the game as they opened the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run that pulled them within four points. A Tina Charles three-pointer switched the momentum for the Sun, as they went on an 11-6 run to close out the game. 

“It was a grind,” Williams said. “But we fought back. I think the biggest issue was just the turnovers, if you take those away, I thought defensively we played a pretty good game. But ultimately we just had to fight.” 

Charles finished with 15 points while shooting 50.0% from the field. The Sun were led by Leïla Lacan who had 17 points, four rebounds and five assists. Connecticut found their shot early on in their home arena as they shot 51.4% from the field in the first half. 

Connecticut’s defense proved to be the difference as they forced Chicago into 21 turnovers, including 11 steals. The Sun capitalized off the turnovers as they scored 16 points. Saniya Rivers and Olivia Nelson-Ododa each led the Sun with three steals along with eight points each. 

It was a battle down low as Chicago narrowly outscored Connecticut 36-34 in the paint. The Sky held the Sun to their season average in rebounds, as they out-rebounded them 37-31. 

The two teams will see each other once again this month on Aug. 23 in Chicago. The Sky will look to get back in the win column on Friday as they host Golden State. 

Quote of the game from head coach Tyler Marsh: 

“I thought we just dug in. I think that sometimes when you put yourself in that deep of a hole, it’s a lot of energy that it takes to fight back from it, no matter who you’re playing against. And I think Connecticut, who plays extremely hard on both ends, they made it tough for us tonight. And you know, we continue to fight back..”