Sun vie to gain ground on Liberty in clash

The Connecticut Sun recently secured their playoff berth and are a strong possibility to end up with the third seed for the WNBA postseason.

The second seed is within striking distance and the Sun can enhance their bid by beating the visiting New York Liberty on Thursday night in Uncasville, Conn.

The Sun (23-10) head into the opener of a three-game homestand trailing New York (25-7) by 2 1/2 games. Connecticut dropped three straight from Aug. 10-18, when it lost to Phoenix and took double-digit losses in a home-and-home against Dallas.

The Sun snapped the skid with a six-point win at Chicago on Sunday and then followed it up by getting a 68-64 win at Washington on Tuesday. The Sun shot just 39.3 percent but improved to 3-5 when shooting under 40 percent because their top-ranked scoring defense kept the Mystics under 75 points, the 15th time they've accomplished that feat this season.

Alyssa Thomas scored 22 points for her eighth game with at least 20 points, and added 10 rebounds for her 24th double-double. DeWanna Bonner contributed 17 and helped a defensive effort that allowed just 35.5 percent shooting from the floor, the 11th time an opponent has shot under 40 percent.

"Move and shift quicker instead of standing and watching," Sun coach Stephanie White said earlier this week. "We either have to go right away or give it a chance to develop."

Aside from attempting to secure the second seed, the Liberty are 3 1/2 games behind the league-leading Las Vegas Aces, whom they host Monday. New York is 2-0 against the Sun this season, including winning by eight at Connecticut on June 27.

The Liberty are 15-4 since the last meeting.

After seeing their six-game winning streak stopped with a 13-point loss at Las Vegas last Thursday, the Liberty bounced back with a 22-point rout at Phoenix on Friday on the second night of a back-to-back. Betnijah Laney scored 22 points while Sabrina Ionescu added 18.

"Playing in a back-to-back is not easy," New York's Marine Johannes said. "After the game yesterday, we just had to switch and be ready for today, and I think we did a good job."