Connecticut ends Lynx's winning streak at eight games

Not interested in hiding her frustration with what had just happened, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve — who at one point tossed aside the boxscore she'd been looking at during her post-game Zoom — cut through the hyperbole.

A lot of bad things happened Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., as Minnesota's eight-game winning streak came to an end, 72-60, against the Sun. There are a lot of stats that can describe it, like being outscored in the paint 30-28, outscored at the free throw line 14-5 (Kayla McBride was the only Lynx player who took one) and outrebounded (Minnesota finished with a season-low 22).

But here's the way Reeve described it: "Give Connecticut credit,'' she said. "They gave us a punch. A lot of us took the punch and didn't get up.''

As a result, three of the Lynx's five starters saw little or no action in the fourth quarter. Napheesa Collier (six points on 3-for-7 shooting) and Damiris Dantas did not play in the final 10 minutes and point guard Layshia Clarendon played just 35 seconds. Their replacements — Natalie Achonwa, Bridget Carleton and Rachel Banham — gave the Lynx, down 16 entering the fourth, some life, bringing the team back to within eight when Carleton fed Fowles (14 points) for a layup with 46 seconds left. The Lynx got a stop but, coming out of another timeout, a turnover ended the charge.

The fourth-place Lynx (13-8) had a season low in points, dropping to 0-8 when being outshot. While taking a big lead through three quarters, the Sun was able to get Minnesota out of its pick-and-roll game with perimeter pressure that resulted in the Lynx being unable to get shots where they wanted them.

The Sun (16-6) improved to 9-1 at home and is tied for second place with Seattle, a half-game behind Las Vegas, in the WNBA standings. Its athletic, physical starting five played havoc with Minnesota's offensive rhythm all night.

BOXSCORE: Connecticut 72, Lynx 60

Until the end, anyway.

"They just played so much more aggressively than us,'' Banham said. "They got up on us, made passes tough. They took things away we were trying to get out of our plays. We have to use that against them, drive, use back-cuts. Our backcourt, we didn't take advantage of their pressure. We didn't respond. We were soft on the ball-screen offense until the very end. We'll have to do better with that in the next game.''

The two teams play again in Connecticut on Thursday.

Four of five Sun starters were in double figures, including Jasmine Thomas (19 points), DeWanna Bonner (18) and Jonquel Jones (17 points, 13 rebounds).

Fowles (14) and McBride (12) were the only Lynx players with more than eight points.

But most of her ire was focused on the players who didn't answer the call, physically. Which was why Achonwa, Carleton and Banham — Minnesota's only plus players in the game — played down the stretch while some starters watched.

"That group played better than the ones who sat,'' Reeve said. "There were a lot of players who weren't present, for whatever reason. … One of our best players was a no-show.''