Lindsay Whalen had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in the Sun’s 96-67 victory over the Washington Mystics yesterday in Uncasville, Conn., tying Connecticut with Washington for second place in the Eastern Conference at 11-10.
Connecticut led by 10 entering the fourth quarter, when Whalen scored 9 points as the Sun gradually pulled away.
Anete Jekabsone-Zogota added 15 points for Connecticut, while Asjha Jones and Sandrine Gruda had 14 apiece and Tan White scored 13.
“It was good to beat a team we needed to beat - ahead of us in the standings,’’ Sun coach Mike Thibault said. “It was good to see all five starters in double figures. It was almost like the perfect box score, offensively.’’
Jones set a franchise record with her 18th straight game scoring in double figures.
Alana Beard had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Mystics. After getting 16 points in the first half, she was held scoreless for the first 12:36 of the second half.
“We didn’t compete,’’ Beard said. “We made a lot of mistakes and it hurt us.’’
Crystal Langhorne added 14 points for Washington.
Sun forward Tamika Whitmore returned after missing 10 games because of a right knee injury. Before the injury, Whitmore had the league’s longest active consecutive games streak at 204.
Silver Stars 89, Lynx 87 - Ann Wouters hit a jumper from the free throw line at the buzzer to lift visiting San Antonio over Minnesota.
Becky Hammon scored 22 points for Silver Stars (10-11), who moved within a half-game of the Lynx for third place in the Western Conference.
Shock 64, Sky 58 - Shavonte Zellous rediscovered her shooting touch, scoring 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting to help defending champion Detroit beat Chicago in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Zellous got plenty of offensive support. Katie Smith (14 points) and Deanna Nolan (11 points) reached double figures for the Shock (8-11), who were aided by 21 offensive rebounds.
