Connecticut Sun Earn 1st Win Against Storm

The Sun finished the game on a 5-0 run to win 80-78.

(Seattle, WA) - The Connecticut Sun (1-5) survived a late-quarter rally by the Seattle Storm (1-4) to win their first game of the season 80-78. The Sun were the last remaining winless team in the WNBA. Despite this being a contest between the league’s bottom two teams, it was a thrilling game that went down to the wire. Seattle had their chances. They took the lead inside the final minute on a reverse layup by Jade Melbourne. They pushed their lead to three on a pair of Mackenzie Holmes free throws. But the Sun fought back and scored the game’s final five points to secure the win. Natisha Hiedeman had two chances to win the game in the final 10 seconds, but wasn’t able to convert either shot.

Hiedeman led the team in scoring with 20 points on 8-18 FG shooting. She also had a team-high five assists. Mackenzie Holmes added a career-high 18 points off the bench. She made 6-8 FG, 5-5 FT, finished with a team-high six rebounds, and two blocked shots. Jade Melbourne (11 points) and Zia Cooke (10 points) rounded out the other scorers in double figures.

Coach Raman spoke about Holmes after the game.

“Mack is huge for us. Came up with a lot of really big plays. It felt like she was just battling down low constantly, and then just kind of keeping the offense moving a little bit, you know, rolling, slipping to the basket, finding, just like having a knack for finding the ball and really giving us a boost. I’m really proud of her.”

The team lacked offensive firepower without Dominique Malonga (out with a concussion) and a season-low five points from Flau’jae Johnson, who only played three minutes in the second half. Coach Raman said after the game that Johnson’s playing time was just based on the flow of the game. Hiedeman and Lexie Brown played all 10 minutes in the 4th period. Jade Melbourne and Zia Cooke got the remaining guard minutes in the quarter.

Seattle was outshot and out-rebounded in this game. They also coughed up more turnovers (17-13). While the Storm kept it close, the Connecticut Sun outplayed them for most of the game and deserved to pick up their first win.

I spoke to Holmes about the team’s moments of struggles, where they might have some effective plays, but then the offense just got really stagnant, or turnovers would happen.

Mack told me, “I think that’s just basketball. Not every possession on offense is going to be perfect. But just not make the same mistake twice or compound mistakes, so we have a bad offensive set. Don’t let it translate into defense. So I think, you know, that’s just the ebbs and flows of games. We’re not going to be perfect. But I think it’s just a matter of not repeating the same mistakes over and over.”

Connecticut Sun

The Sun were led by a pair of rookies. Their first-round pick (12th overall) Nell Angloma, who finished with 15 points. And second-round pick Charlisse Leger-Walker led Connecticut with 16 points. Raegan Beers, an undrafted rookie, added 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds off the bench.

Interestingly, the Sun’s starters barely played in this game. Gianna Kneepkens played just four minutes. Aneesah Morrow only played seven minutes. Hailey Van Lith played 12 minutes total. Kneepkens and Morrow didn’t play a single minute in the second half. With Flau’jae not playing at all in the 4th quarter and just three minutes in the third quarter, the whole thing was a bit odd from both teams.

The Sun’s bench outscored Seattle’s reserves 62-39. This was a rare game where both teams’ reserve units matched or outscored their starters.

Connecticut dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Storm 38-26. They also had a 12-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Sun outshot Seattle 44% (32-72 FG) to 40% (25-63 FG). They had a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers. They also dominated inside the paint (50-36) and in fast break points (14-4).

Game Breakdown

Aneesah Morrow collected an offensive rebound and scored the game’s first basket. Natisha Hiedeman answered back with a midrange jumper. Gianna Kneepkens was fouled and made both free throws. Hiedeman quickly got to the rim for the AND1. Flau’jae Johnson picked off a pass in the open court and raced down the court for two. Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast to coast and finished with another nice layup. With the Storm leading 9-4, Coach Rachid Meziane called a timeout.

Nell Angloma checked in and immediately scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the Sun’s deficit down to one. Raegan Beers was fouled and split the pair to tie the game. Charlisse Leger-Walker stole the inbounds pass and was fouled on the other end. She sank both as the Sun completed an 8-0 run. Jade Melbourne stopped the bleeding by getting to the line for two free throws. More points from Angloma and Beers extended the Sun’s lead to five. And an AND1 from Leger-Walker put Connecticut ahead 22-14.

The Storm were able to rally a bit, with a three-pointer from Hiedeman and four points from Mackenzie Holmes. Zia grabbed an offensive rebound and completed a three-point play. Connecticut responded with a quick 7-0 run in under a minute. Hiedeman scored near the quarter buzzer to cut into Connecticut’s lead. Through the first period, the Sun led the Storm 29-23.

To begin the second quarter, Zia Cooke scored, but that was answered by Angloma on the other end. Cooke scored again with an assist from Hiedeman. Cooke scored another with an open-court steal and drive to the rim. The Storm regained the lead on a Mackenzie Holmes turnaround jumper. Beers and Holmes swapped baskets after that.

Kennedy Burke and Nell Angloma scored inside the paint. Holmes knocked down a three-pointer and scored another basket on a roll to the rim. SaNiya Rivers converted a layup to regain the lead. Burke knocked down a corner three to end the first half, extending the Sun’s lead to five (46-41). Connecticut outshot the Storm 47% (17-36 FG) to 41% (15-37 FG). The Sun out-rebounded the Storm 21-14, and their reserves outscored Seattle’s bench 40-23 through the first 20 minutes.

Natisha Hiedeman scored right before the shot clock buzzer to begin the third quarter. Aaliyah Edwards scored on the other end. Hiedeman buried a three-pointer. Diamond Miller scored at the rim. Raegan Beers was called for a Flagrant-1 foul. Stefanie Dolson made both free throws. After multiple bad possessions by the Storm, Leger-Walker drilled a three-pointer to extend the Sun’s lead to seven. Taylor Thierry knocked down two three-pointers in the quarter to help keep the Storm within striking distance.

Melbourne was fouled and made both free throws. Edwards got to the rim for two. Holmes made a nice move where she faked the screen up top and slipped to the rim for the layup. Edwards scored again in the paint. At the end of the third period, the Connecticut Sun remained on top by a score of 63-59.

Lexie Brown made a nice drive to the rim, made the layup, and was fouled to begin the final period. Kennedy Burker scored two from the line and three more from the top of the arch. Brown had a beautiful cut to the rim for a layup. Stef Dolson was fouled and split the pair to cut the Storm’s deficit down to two. Melbourne tied the game briefly at 67-67. Leger-Walker hit a dribble pull-up, and Edwards added another to put the Sun ahead by four. Ashlon Jackson got a steal and scored as Connecticut extended its lead to 73-67.

The Storm had one last rally in them. Hiedeman knocked down a three-pointer. That started an 11-2 run by Seattle. Jade Melbourne put the Storm ahead 76-75 with a nifty reverse layup with one minute left in the game. Seattle got a defensive stop, and Mackenzie Holmes was fouled on the defensive rebound. They were in the bonus, and Holmes sank both free throws, putting Seattle ahead 78-75.

Unfortunately, the Sun ended the game on a 5-0 run over the game’s final 40 seconds. Aaliyah Edwards scored in the paint, and then Kennedy Burke had an AND1 in transition with less than three seconds left in the game. Natisha Hiedeman had two good looks to win the game in Seattle’s final two possessions, but wasn’t able to convert on either. The Sun held on for their first victory of the season, 80-78 over the Storm.

Final Box Score

No Part 2

With the Storm and Connecticut Sun playing again in a couple of days, I felt I would have more to talk about after that game is played. Since I’m not doing a full additional article, I’ve included the post-game audio below.

Also, if you missed it, I wrote a long article on the entire WNBA through the first two weeks, which you can read here.

Player Interviews

Coach’s Quotes

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (1-4) will rematch with the Connecticut Sun (1-5) again on Friday, 5/22 at 7:00 PM PT.

Notes:
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Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources!

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