The Atlanta Dream (2-6) were handed their fifth consecutive loss after losing to the Connecticut Sun (2-6), 93-82, on Monday night.
Atlanta lost their spark plug on offense within minutes of the first quarter after Chennedy Carter left the game with a left ankle injury. Shekinna Stricklen took over the reigns offensively –– knocking down every three-pointer she took. Stricklen was perfect from three –– carrying 12 of the team’s 25 points at the end of the first frame, but they still trailed by one after the first 10 minutes.
Carter’s absence was felt early, as she’s often the one who gets the offense flowing and helps control the pace of the game. Carter has been averaging 19.4 points per game through the seven games she’s played. Over the past three games she’s been averaging 25 points, so her absent presence on the court meant a lot for the team going forward.
“We were just trying to figure it out on the court,” said guard Alexis Jones. “Sometimes when a big player goes down like that it’s hard to get back on that focus because you got to change the whole game. Chennedy is definitely our majority ball handler and I think we were just trying to figure it out without her.”
The Dream started to gain some momentum at the start of the second quarter after Stricklen banked yet another three to tie the game at 28 apiece. But the Sun found some momentum and jumped out to as much as a 13-point lead. Atlanta had a strong defensive effort with seconds ticking away before halftime, forcing Connecticut’s Natasha Hiedeman to lose the ball out of bounds. Connecticut returned the favor with DeWanna Bonner blocking Stricklen’s attempted layup to take a comfortable 56-46 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was completely in Connecticut’s hands as they took a 24-point advantage towards the end and never relinquished the lead.
“I don’t know if our team collapsed because Chennedy went off,” said head coach Nicki Collen. “We were scoring whatever way we wanted to score, we just weren’t defensive rebounding and we turned the basketball over too much. I don’t think our defensive intensity was great. I think giving up second chance points is more deflating than losing your point guard.”
Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas dominated in the paint and led all scorers with 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting –– 13 of which were scored in the first half. Three more players from the Sun’s roster finished in double figures with Jasmine Thomas scoring 15 points, Bonner with 12 and Brionna Jones with 11.
Stricklen led the Dream in points with 18 –– all earned in the first half. Courtney Williams came off the bench to add 12 points and seven rebounds. Kalani Brown came off the bench late and looked great in her first game back after recovering from COVID-19, recording 13 points and four rebounds.
“I lasted longer than I actually thought, it’s only my fourth day out,” said Brown. “I’m just working it back in, trying to get back in shape, just taking it one day at a time. Coach asked me if I was ready to go and I was like “yeah” so they put me in.”
Brown missed the start of the season after testing positive for the virus during the initial quarantine period after traveling with the team to Florida. Brown suffered through the effects of the virus and fought back to fully recover. She had been in self-isolation for over two weeks, which can be adversely challenging both mentally and physically.
“Mentally definitely, because when you’re in those four walls you tend to think about a lot of things,” said Brown. “When you can’t go outside, you’re sick and feeling bad, you’re wondering how you’re going to help the team. Mentally I got discouraged, but my coach was there and she called me to let me know everything was going to be okay. That calmed me down.”
The Dream return to action for a late night matchup against the Seattle Storm at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night.