BOSTON ― While Tuesday’s game at TD Garden resulted in a loss for the home team, Boston’s second WNBA game was a massive success once again.
The Connecticut Sun lost to the Indiana Fever, 85-77, on Tuesday in front of a sell-out crowd of 19,156 fans.
From the court being transformed into a replica of the Sun’s home court at the Mohegan Sun Arena, to the thousands of screaming fans in Sun jerseys waving orange towels, the Sun looked right at home — even with the Fever’s well-traveled support in attendance.
“Honestly, (from) the starting lineups, I was lit,” Sun guard Saniya Rivers said after the game. “Everybody was lit for me (and) Connecticut… I was like ‘Oh yea, this is real’.
“(Being) on the NBA court, I was just like ‘This is insane’ and some of my family was in the crowd… this (was) amazing.”
The Sun fell behind early as the Fever jumped out to an 15-8 lead four minutes into the game. But despite Indiana connecting on its first eight shots of the night, the Sun climbed back to take the lead briefly with just a minute left in the first.
Tina Charles led the Sun with nine points in the opening quarter as Connecticut entered the second trailing by one.
The Sun remained narrowly behind through most of the second quarter. Connecticut once again briefly took a one-point advantage late in the quarter, but entered halftime trailing the Indiana Fever, 44-42.
Natasha Howard led all scorers with 12 points for the Fever, supported by Kelsey Mitchell with 11 points.
Tina Charles led the Sun with 11 points and seven rebounds at halftime, while four of her teammates record entered with six points each.
Indiana maintained its advantage through most of the third, but the Sun never allowed it to grow beyond five and entered the fourth still trailing by two.
Leïla Lacan scored the first five points of the fourth for the Sun, bringing her to 15 points with eight minutes remaining.
The Fever held a one-possession for most of the fourth, but an 8-1 run by Indiana in less than two minutes put enough breathing room between them and the hosts down the stretch to seal the win.
Charles finished with a game-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as well in 34 minutes, her third double-double in the last four games.
Before the game, Charles was acknowledged for crossing 8,000 career points during the team’s brief two-game road trip.
“I never imagined in my career that I’d be able to accomplish such a feat,” said the league’s second all-time leading scorer. “Just being in the same sentence as Diana Taurasi, especially for me.
“Hopefully I can inspire the next ones and I know there’s (going to) be players that shatter (my total), I’m just thankful.”
Lacan had a career-high 19 points and three steals in 24 minutes off the bench, showcasing not only how talented she already is skill-wise, but how intelligent and adaptable she is to fit in so seamlessly just over two weeks into her WNBA career.
“The coaching (staff) and my teammates are helping me,” the French international said. “When I don’t understand something, they’re always checking that I get it, so I think that it’s superb that I have help from everybody here. It helps to understand faster what the staff is asking.”
Connecticut drops to 3-19 with this loss, entering the All-Star Break sitting in last place. With over a week off before the team’s next game on Jul. 24 against the Los Angeles Sparks, the Sun remain optimistic about their prospects of improving on the court in the second half of the season.
“I will (be) analyzing all our games and be sure that our first practices after the break will be very good,” Sun coach Rachid Meziane said.
“(Also) just take some rest because I think that we all need some mental rest.”
