SUNRISE IN CONNECTICUT: Morrow’s Monster Double-Double Snaps Skid Despite Griner Injury Drama!
SUNRISE IN CONNECTICUT: Morrow’s Monster Double-Double Snaps Skid Despite Griner Injury Drama!
HARTFORD, Conn. — It has been a rough minute for the Connecticut Sun, but Saturday night proved that you can only keep a good team down for so long.
Snapping an ugly three-game losing streak where they got beat by double digits every single time, the Sun dug deep at PeoplesBank Arena to outlast the Los Angeles Sparks 84-81. It wasn't clean, it wasn't pretty, but a win in the WNBA column counts exactly the same whether it's a masterpiece or a muddy dogfight.
The Aneesah Morrow Show
If you haven't been paying attention to Aneesah Morrow, it's time to wake up. The Sun forward was a relentless force on the glass, dropping 17 points and 14 rebounds.
That marks Morrow’s fourth consecutive game with a double-double, bringing her season total to a league-leading seven. When Connecticut needed someone to anchor the interior, Morrow put the team on her back and refused to let them slide to 1-9.
French Toast: Leila Lacan’s Impactful Debut
The biggest storyline outside of the win column was the season debut of French point guard Leila Lacan. Fresh off winning a championship and Finals MVP honors with Basket Landes in France earlier this month, Lacan hopped across the Atlantic and immediately reminded Connecticut what they were missing.
Lacan looked entirely comfortable back in WNBA action, chipping in 12 points off the bench. To put her value into perspective: last season, the Sun were a miserable 2-17 before she arrived from international duty, going 9-16 after she took over the backcourt. Her presence changes the entire geometric spacing of this offense.
Complementing the attack, Kennedy Burke delivered a smooth 14 points, while Diamond Miller matched Lacan with 12 of her own. Defensively, Connecticut played passing lanes like free safety ballhawks, tying a season-high with 11 steals.
Injury Bug Bites Hard
It wasn't all celebrations for the Sun, though. Star center Brittney Griner finally made her highly anticipated return after missing four games with a rib injury.
She looked solid early, scoring 9 points, but her night was cut short late in the first half after taking an accidental poke to the eye. She left the game for good, leaving Connecticut to finish the battle short-handed.
The Sparks had their own injury woes to complain about, playing their second straight game without league-leading scorer Kelsey Plum, who is sitting out with an ankle injury.
The Final Stand
Without Plum’s 28.6 points per game, Los Angeles relied heavily on Ariel Atkins and Rae Burrell, who both dropped 16 points. Erica Wheeler added 13, and legendary forward Nneka Ogwumike finished with 12 points and 3 rebounds—a milestone night for Ogwumike, who moved into a tie with the great Tamika Catchings for fifth on the WNBA’s all-time career rebounding list (3,315).
LA nearly pulled off a heist of their own. After Wheeler opened the fourth quarter with a layup, the Sparks went completely ice-cold, failing to hit another field goal for a brutal seven-minute stretch. Yet, they managed to scrape back. A Burrell 3-pointer cut Connecticut's lead to a terrifying 81-79 with 52 seconds left on the clock.
But the Sun defense locked down when it mattered most, forcing the Sparks out of rhythm and securing the three-point victory.
Up Next
The Sparks head home to host the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday, while the Sun (2-8) will look to build a real winning streak when they travel to Atlanta to face the Dream on Tuesday night.
