DeWanna Bonner scored 23 points, hitting a career-high seven 3-pointers, to help the host Connecticut Sun beat the Atlanta Dream 80-67 Sunday for their third win in a row. The Dream have lost four straight.
Tiffany Mitchell added 13 points and Brionna Jones scored 11 points for Connecticut. Alyssa Thomas added seven points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
The Dream were playing short-handed again and were without Rhyne Howard (ankle) — who is second on the Dream in scoring (15.4 per game) this season and leads the team in assists (3.4), steals (2.2) and blocks (0.8) — Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (foot), Aerial Powers (calf) and Jordin Canada (finger).
Mitchell and Bonner each hit a 3-point in a 9-0 run that made it 17-11 with 2:20 left in the first quarter and the Sun led the rest of the way.
Allisha Gray hit a mid-range pull-up jumper that cut the Dream’s deficit to 24-20 midway through the second quarter, but Veronica Burton answered with a 3-pointer and Jones made a layup before Bonner hit again from behind the arc to give Connecticut a 12-point lead. The Sun led 34-24 at the half.
The Dream made 4 of 11 from the field and committed five turnovers while scoring just eight points in the second quarter before Connecticut scored 33 points — one fewer than its first-half total — on 9-of-11 shooting in the third quarter to open an 18-point lead going into the fourth.
Gray led the Dream with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Tina Charles added 13 points and Nia Coffey 11.
Atlanta (7-13), which beat the Sun 78-74 on June 28 to end a three-game skid, has lost seven of its last eight.
Connecticut (17-4) has won four of its last five games and is tied with the New York Liberty for the best record in the WNBA.
Gray led Atlanta with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Tina Charles added 13 points and Nia Coffey 11.
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