Uncasville, Con. – Four days eliminated from its worst loss in the history of the franchise, the sun was determined to change the tide on Friday.
Directed by a performance of 34 Marina Mabrey points, Connecticut Sun defeated Atlanta’s dream, 84-76. This marks the first connecticut victory at home of the season, one week withdrawn from his first victory May 30.
A victory may not change course, but two wins in its last three are a sign in the right direction for a squad, regardless of what it seems like a loss of 48 points.
“I don’t think the defeat in New York has to define us,” said Sun Rachid Meziane coach before Friday’s game. “Right now we have played the best in the world, New York is the best team in the world. How (our players) respond today is the most important thing for me.
“We have to play with more character, more focus … (i) defensive energy.”
The Sun survives a slow start with a strong defense
The first quarter was closely played, with five changes in the first five minutes. Mabrey was shot early, scoring on a disk and a step back after capturing the ex -Sun Brionna Jones of Connecticut in a switch.
Atlanta grew the first lead of two possession when Rhyne Howard scored five fast points in a step back and a pull-up jumper to put the dream ahead, 15-8, forcing a time of sunshine.
Both teams struggled to mark the opening section, but the sun closed the gap after a step back three from Mabrey cut off the deficit four with a minute left.
The score remained 17-13 when entering the second, with the dream shooting only 36.8% of the field, barely surpassing the sun at 33.3% and only one of 7 in the city center.
But despite the offensive numbers of his team, Meziane did not deter.
“At this time he was fine because he knew that we are offensively more talented (what we had shown),” said Meziane after the game. “We have created a lot of open features; we missed them, but I didn’t want to change.
“The only thing we wanted right now (was) only reversing the ball and finding a good balance between our interior players and our external players.”
Tina Charles, Mabrey, directs the post of the second quarter
The dream pushed the lead to seven in the second. But after Tina Charles connected to the jumping shots on the stick’s back, the Sun’s offense continued to feed it.
The eight times All-Star scored eight of their ten points in the first quarter to keep the sun at an amazing distance from the dream.
But it was the Mabrey game in the final minutes that closed the connecticut vacuum. Scored eight points in the final five minutes to help the sun regain leadership at halftime.
Mabrey’s hand float and one hand of the paint put the sun in front just before the bell after dividing the double team of the selection and the roll on the top of the bow.
Mabrey expands leadership but Atlanta rise again
The sun came up with a new look at the second half after the updated injury report at halftime, saying that Olivia Nelson-Ododa would not return to the game, designated with a left ankle injury. Karita Diaby started the second half at Nelson-Ododa’s site.
Connecticut came to a start by scoring the third, scoring the first six points of the fourth and opened a 10-2 race to expand a nine-point advantage, forcing a waiting time for Atlanta less than three minutes in the second half.
“I like when (Saniya Rivers) runs in transition,” Mabrey said. “The energy it brings is contagious. So you have many players (here) who do it for a while, but also really young players and are full of energy.”
The waiting time did little to stop the race. Shortly afterwards, Bria Hartley became a transition after another Mabrey pass, extending the advantage to 11.
Mabrey fueled the sun to most of the third, adding 12 more points and won four assists in the fourth.
“I have to set a tone for the team in any way that I can and also involve others,” said Mabrey. “I can do what I do, but if I do not (go) improve all the others, it is not (not) to help our team. Just being aggressive and I appreciate that all my colleagues trust me.”
The leadership of the Sun grew up to 13 years, but the dream turned to the game in the last minutes of the fourth, with a three from Rhyne Howard to the timbre that cut the lead to one.
Older minutes, defensive plays by Saniya Rivers, Ansah Morrow
Both teams exchanged baskets in the fourth part, but the defensive efforts of the Rivers and Aneesah Morrow played key papers to win the victory.
The two rookies played in most of the fourth, each recording a clean rating of +6 in the quarter. The rivers provided two clutch blocks and two key robberies to the stretch.
Morrow also entered the mixture, scoring a crucial bucket to the hoop traffic with just over a minute left that closed the victory.
“(The rivers and the next day) do not care what they are asked to do every night, but they do it gracefully,” said Mabrey. “They come out here and work hard. In practice, we put (with) the ass like really crazy, but they respond very well and we are very happy and very fortunate to have them in this team.
“Saniya’s defense today on Allisha (Gray) and Rhyne (Howard) was really disturbing. Although they still had some points, I think we made them work hard, which had a lot to do with Saniya, then Ansah came in and gave a great energy … He did not play much, but he went in when his number was called and he was crazy, so we recognize it.”
Mabrey finished with a maximum of 34 points and four assists, their largest total with the sun. Charles ended with 19 points and Hartley had 11 points and a team of six assists.
“After New York, I mean, nobody wants to lose such a game,” Hartley said. “We went in (on Tuesday and) we got later, the coaches challenged us and we considered the occasion. We met and this is what we want to continue to do.
“This league is very hard. The games will be hard at night and at night and, as long as we continue to grow and meet with each game, we will be fine.”
Rivers finished with nine points, three robberies and two blocks.
“The transition is difficult for the university to enter the benefits, it is a different level of physique,” said Rivers. “… you know that What was going on (To start the season) And in addition, (I) I have to learn new players, new individual players … I feel that the team asks me a lot because they know my potential: I come and keep the best players every night. It’s a lot for a boyfriend. “
But despite this strong responsibility, Rivers is adopting this opportunity, joking and creating havoc on the court, taking a look at the fanatics and glittering their signature smile.
“When I got to the W, I said I wanted my defense (mine) transition quickly, but I feel that energy was something else,” said Rivers. “You can ask it (my teammates), I bring energy every day to the locker room. No matter if they are eight in the morning, I will come to provide that energy.
“It’s me, I’m an energy person. I like to smile, I like to have fun -me … I play my best basketball when I am having fun and when my team is having fun. It’s great to see a basket enter, but it’s nothing like a little celebration. I was on my little blog.”