Tina Charles leads Sun to second win in three days over Mystics

Tina Charles scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter on Thursday, lifting the Connecticut Sun to a home-and-home sweep of the Washington Mystics with a 67-56 victory in Uncasville, Conn.

Charles made 6 of 8 shots from the floor in the third quarter and finished 9 of 14 for the game. She also had six rebounds for the Sun (8-27), who followed up their 80-69 victory in Washington on Tuesday to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Charles played in her 464th game to move past Tangela Smith into 10th place all-time in league history.

Former Mystic Aaliyah Edwards scored 10 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added eight off the bench.

Connecticut benefited from a season-high 15 steals and turned 20 turnovers into 20 points. The Sun also held a 34-27 edge in rebounds and 38-28 advantage in points in the paint.

Sonia Citron scored 15 points and fellow rookie Kiki Iriafen added 13 to go along with 10 rebounds for the Mystics (16-20), who fell two full games behind the Seattle Storm for the eighth and final playoff spot. Washington dropped to 6-12 on the road this season.

Connecticut was nursing a seven-point lead at halftime before Charles sank a pair of mid-range jumpers to start the third quarter. She mixed in an off-balance hook shot with a 19-foot shot on consecutive possessions before adding another pair of mid-range jumpers.

Nelson-Ododa and Edwards each converted a short basket and a free throw to extend the Sun's lead to 62-47 with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. Connecticut wasn't seriously challenged the rest of the way.

Stefanie Dolson sank a 3-pointer to trim the Sun's lead to 21-16 early in the second quarter before Connecticut ignited a 9-0 run. Washington, however, halved its deficit with a 10-3 run to end the quarter.

--Field Level Media