Sun Fall to Tempo, 101-97
WNBA Connecticut Sun

Sun Fall to Tempo, 101-97

Published on June 19, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release


Uncasville, CT - The Connecticut Sun (2-15) dropped a 101-97 decision to the Toronto Tempo (8-8) on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, surrendering a double-digit lead despite balanced scoring and a strong first half.

Kennedy Burke led Connecticut with 18 points off the bench. Brittney Griner and Leila Lacan added 16 points apiece, Olivia Nelson-Ododa finished with 13 and Diamond Miller chipped in 10. Aneesah Morrow contributed 10 rebounds.

The Tempo started with a hot 6-0 start thanks to threes from Isabelle Harrison and Marina Mabrey. Connecticut responded with five straight points - a mid-range jumper from Griner and a long-range three from Miller - to close the deficit. Aaliyah Edwards and Miller later put the Sun ahead with two tough layups on the inside, giving Connecticut a three-point advantage. Mabrey gave back-to-back threes to put the Tempo up five with 3:58 remaining. Harrison and Griner traded baskets before Morrow and Nelson-Ododa balanced the score at 18 with just over a minute-and-a-half remaining. Burke nailed a shot from downtown and later tossed in a layup to give Connecticut a lead exiting the first frame, 24-20.

Nelson-Ododa hit the court for the Sun, outmuscling Harrison to throw in a layup. Temi Fagbenle got it started for the Tempo with a quick two in the paint. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored back-to-back from mid-range down the stretch to give the Sun a six-point lead midway through the second quarter. Nelson-Ododa made a go-ahead shot within the arc to give Connecticut an additional advantage before a timeout, stretching her stat line to nine points in seven minutes of playing time. Leila Lacan put up a shot to expand the Sun to a 10-point lead. The Tempo couldn't put up shots quick enough to quell the Sun's momentum, as they were held scoreless for over six minutes before Harrison got in a three. Griner had a massive block and drained one at the rim, followed by a Lacan shot from deep. Griner took another shot to the iron and grabbed the and-1 to give the Sun a season-high lead of 16 points.

Miller and Mabrey got the second half started, exchanging layups. The Tempo woke up their energy, scoring seven straight, while the Sun struggled to find shots. It wasn't until Griner and Lacan connected for consecutive buckets that the Sun started clicking. Laura Juskiate tossed in a two followed up by a Fagbenle three, broken up by Morrow's fastbreak. Leger-Walker and Saniya Rivers pushed the pace, keeping the Sun up by double-digits. Burke made a layup, grabbed a steal off the Toronto in-bound and made another score. Morrow added an additional basket, outmuscling the Tempo to the rim. Nelson-Ododa got another shot in with two seconds in the third to secure a 10-point lead heading into the final frame.

Starting at the charity stripe, the Sun grabbed two thanks to Lacan, who then buried a three from 26' out. Mabrey answered with a far-out shot, but Lacan picked up the call with a mid-range go-ahead. Mabrey closed out for her team, putting up 11 points in three minutes to put Toronto ahead by one point with three minutes remaining. Edwards picked up two at the free throw line, but Marie Conde shot a dagger from downtown. The Sun entered the final minute down by one point until Mabrey buried her 21st point of the quarter to expand to a four-point Toronto lead. Lacan closed the gap at the line, but Conde extended Toronto back up to four ahead. Miller scored the final points of the match, at 0.6 seconds, to

The Sun won the free throw battle, going 21-of-26 from the line in comparison to the Tempo's 8-of-9. The Sun also held the advantage in steals (9-5), points in the paint (52-32), bench points (46-20), forced turnovers (15-8) and points off turnovers (20-7). Connecticut also fared well in fouls, only accumulating 13 in comparison to Toronto's 23. The Tempo, however, were scorching from the three, going 19-of-34 (55.9%) from downtown. Mabrey contributed nine of those threes, going 5-of-5 in the fourth.

Game Notes:

The Sun outpaced the Tempo in free throws, going 21-of-26 in comparison to the Tempo's 8-of-9.

The Tempo shot 55.9% from beyond the arc, with nine of those coming from Mabrey.

Team Score Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 PTS REB AST

CON 97 24 26 24 23 Burke - 18 Morrow - 10 Rivers/Morrow - 4

TOR 101 20 17 27 37 Mabrey - 37 Fagbenle - 9 Allemand - 9

NEXT GAME: The Connecticut Sun hosts the Chicago Sky at Mohegan Sun Arena on Monday, June 22 at 7 p.m. EST.

Check out the Connecticut Sun Statistics

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