Sun get balanced offense to hold off Liberty 75-68

Sun hold off Liberty 75-68

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Tan White scored 18 points and the Connecticut Sun defeated the New York Liberty 75-68 on Friday night.

Kara Lawson had 13 points and Tina Charles had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Anete Jekabsone-Zogota scored 10.

Asjha Jones added two late free throws for Connecticut (4-2).

Jones missed the Sun’s first four games while rehabilitating her Achilles’ which she injured late last season.

“Free throws are about leaning into it and holding your follow through,” Jones said. “I was good.”

New York’s Cappie Pondexter, who had eight points, missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 32.5 seconds left before Jones’ free throws gave the Sun a five-point lead.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 14 points for the Liberty (2-3), while Janel McCarville had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Kalana Greene scored 13.

“Janel and Taj made some tough shots to keep them in the game,” Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said. “The fans saw two teams expend a huge effort.”

The Sun scored the first 10 points of the second half and led 43-27 early in the third period.

The Liberty rallied within two points twice in the fourth period, the last of which was 68-66 with 2:42 remaining.

“I thought in the second half we really decided to compete and get after it. This league is too good. You can’t play just 20 minutes and hope to win a game,” New York coach Anne Donovan said.

“We were muddled completely on offense for the first 20 minutes of the game. We played solid defensively, but we didn’t execute any kind of offense for the first 20 minutes and they made us pay for it by putting us in a huge hole. We dug ourselves out of it, but it’s tough to be that lopsided and come out of the game with a win.”

Lawson hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the first half to give Connecticut a 33-27 lead at halftime.

New York led 13-12 after one period.

It was New York

Foxwoods is a rival casino of the Mohegan Sun, which owns the Sun. The front of the Liberty uniforms had the Foxwoods name and logo.