CONNECTICUT SUN BEAT SAN ANTONIO SILVER STARS

Jones, White lift Sun over Silver Stars
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By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
sports@norwichbulletin.com
Posted Jul 17, 2009 @ 11:09 PM

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SAN ANTONIO — The Connecticut Sun know how infectious missed shots can be. Scoring can be the same way.

Asjha Jones scored 17 points, Tan White added a season-high 15 and the Connecticut had five players in double figures in topping the San Antonio Silver Stars, 72-64, on Friday night.

Sandrine Gruda and Lindsay Whalen added 12 points each and Erin Phillips scored 10 for the Sun (7-6).

Still the WNBA’s worst shooting team entering Friday (38.7 percent), the Sun topped 44 percent for the second straight game, though they still struggled at times finding the hoop. They missed eight of 10 shots at one point in the first quarter and neither team shot 39 percent in the first half.

But Connecticut scored 28 fourth-quarter points, and it has now won its last two games to move into sole possession of second-place in the East behind Indiana (11-2), which won its 11th straight game Friday, 84-79, over Atlanta.

The Fever and Sun square off 3 p.m. Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

“It became a shoot-out,” Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “Becky (Hammon) got her 3-ball going I don’t know how we lost her twice. The other one she made with us in her face.

“It was a great fourth quarter. It felt like a playoff game.”

Hammon scored 24 points Friday and rookie Megan Frazee had 14 for the Silver Stars (6-7), who missed their fifth chance to get over .500.

After missing all four of her shots in the third quarter, Jones hit two key baskets after Hammon’s layup cut the Sun’s lead to 65-64 under the 2-minute mark.

Jones hit a bank shot from about 10 feet out and followed that with a 17-footer on the Sun’s next trip down the floor to give Connecticut a 69-64 lead with 26 seconds left. Amber Holt added a pair of free throws with 12 seconds to go.

White had nine points in the fourth quarter, including 5-of-6 free throws. She finished 5-of-7 from the floor to go along with all the free throws she attempted in the fourth quarter.

Connecticut opened the fourth quarter ahead by four but expanded the lead to a 56-49 when White hit 1-of-2 free throws with 6:27 remaining.

However, the Silver Stars hit three 3-pointers — two by Hammon — to pull to 63-62 with 2:20 to go.

“It was a really physical game,” said Jones, who has 12 double-figure scoring games this season. She also had five assists and five rebounds. “Tan made a bunch of great plays right when we needed them. The entire game was going to be like, back-and-forth. Both teams needed a win. Right there at the end, that’s a shot I’ll make.”

Connecticut beat San Antonio by 13 points in their first meeting this season on June 21. The Silver Stars were playing without Hammon, who was playing in the European championships, and fellow starter Vickie Johnson.

The Silver Stars lost starting center Ruth Riley due to a sprained left ankle late in the first half and she did not return.

Considered questionable for the game after rolling her ankle in practice on Wednesday, Latvian reserve Anete Jekabsone-Zogota played more than 12 minutes, missing both of her field-goal attempts.

This is the Sun’s first win in San Antonio since the 2006 season.