Sun extend winning streak over Fever to 11 games

DiJonai Carrington had a season-high 22 points and DeWanna Bonner scored 15 of her 17 points during a dominant opening half by the Connecticut Sun, who rebounded from their first loss by beating the visiting Indiana Fever 89-72 on Monday night at Uncasville, Conn.

Alyssa Thomas had 18 rebounds plus seven points and seven assists for the Sun (10-1), who took control by setting first-half season highs for points (55), shooting percentage (19-of-31 from the floor, 61.3 percent) and assists (15) to defeat the Fever for an 11th straight time.

Bonner scored the first eight points for Connecticut, which easily bounced back from Saturday's 82-75 home loss to New York with an early 8-0 run.

The Sun generated a 14-2 spurt at the end of the first quarter and into the second, then closed the opening half on a 16-4 surge to lead 55-35 at the break.

It marked the third time this season Connecticut has beaten the Fever (3-10), whose last win in the series came in July 2021. The Sun opened the campaign with a 92-71 home rout of Indiana, then pulled out an 88-84 road victory on May 20.

Aliyah Boston had 14 points with 12 boards, while Caitlin Clark scored all 10 of her points in the first half. The superstar rookie then sat most of the way after picking up her fourth foul with 4:41 left in the third quarter for Indiana, which shot 40.3 percent and was outrebounded 41-26.

Indiana led 7-5 when the Sun essentially took over by scoring the next eight points, highlighted by Bonner's go-ahead 3-pointer. Bonner's 3 to open the second quarter capped a surge where the Sun scored 14 of 17 to take a 29-15 lead.

The Fever got within 39-30 on a pair of Clark free throws with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. However, the Sun closed by scoring 16 of the final 20 points of the half. Carrington scored seven points during that surge, including a driving layup at the buzzer off a Clark turnover.

Bonner and Carrington combined for 29 first-half points.

--Field Level Media