Sun win impressively over Detroit
Published on June 24, 2008 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release
The Sun tied a season high with six offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
- Rookies Amber Holt and Kerri Gardin both had career nights. Holt had a season-high 19 points, eight rebounds and four made threes. The four made threes matched her season total. Gardin scored a career-high 14 points on a season-best three made three-pointers.
- The Sun were 12 of 27 from the three-point line against Detroit tonight. That was the fourth time this season Connecticut had 10 or more made threes. No Sun team has ever had more than three games in a season with 10 or more made threes.
- Lindsay Whalen had six assists, all in the third quarter. That is a franchise record for assists in a quarter. The previous mark was five, set by Whalen at Minnesota on May 23, 2006.
- Connecticut finished with a 42-32 edge in rebounding tonight. Prior to tonight, in the 11 regular-season meetings since the start of the 2005 season, Connecticut managed to out-rebound the Shock just once. That game was last June 27th, when the Sun finished with a 39-33 edge on the boards in a 77-74 loss.
- The Sun went on a 14-0 run in the final 4:44 of the first quarter to close out the frame with a 22-16.
- The victory marked the first win over Detroit since August 26, 2006 in the Eastern Conference Finals. The last time the Sun had defeated the Shock in the regular season was June 18, 2005. The score of that game was 73-63 in Mohegan Sun Arena.
- The Shock committed just eight turnovers in the game, a season-low for a Sun opponent. By comparison, the Sun had double that amount, 19, in tonight's game, the highest total for the team since 20 against Minnesota on June 6th.
- The Sun had just three steals in the contest, tying their season low. That was also done on June 6th against Minnesota.
CONNECTICUT SUN QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Thibault On the game "Played a good game. We won the game pretty much defensively. I thought we did a good job defensively except for the 3rd quarter. Most of their offense was from turnovers. We rebounded the ball really well and got a lot of great performances from a lot of people."
On the play of the rookies "Our rookies, Amber and Kerri, stepped up. Perseverance is starting to pay off for some of these kids because every day the two of them have stayed with Coach Mattox working on their jump shot and working on their range."
On Amber Holt "She picked up where she left off on the road trip. She played well there. I think her confidence is getting better every game. Learning the league a little bit too. That's part of the educational process."
On the play of the bench tonight "Tamika Raymond comes in and gives us energy by getting offensive rebounds. Sandrine some rebounds and assists. That bench group gave us a huge lift. A lot of good performances."
On the history with Detroit "Seventy-five percent of the roster has no history with them. Might be a good thing. There's no negative thought about how were supposed to play. You just go play basketball. You don't play with reputation; you play the game that's in front of you."
Sun Forward Asjha Jones On Detroit "It's the first time so it's hard to tell them exactly what to expect if you've never played against them before. They're tough on the boards and Nolan coming of the screens 100 miles per hour. She's the only player with that burst of speed like that. It's hard to prepare for them verbally."
On the play of Holt and Gardin "They came up big with three's tonight and knocked down shots. They also got there on the boards and did a little bit of everything to help us tonight."
Sun Guard Lindsay Whalen On the game "We bought in on defense tonight. We got offensive rebounds at timely points of the game that were huge."
On Detroit "The franchise has had lots of battles against Detroit, but most of the players here haven't yet. It's a different look and different players. Those two things are big differences."
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 24, 2008
- Sun win impressively over Detroit - Connecticut Sun
- Comets eek out one-point win - Houston Comets
- Lynx regain winning ways - Minnesota Lynx
- Dream Battles High Gas Prices with Ticket Offer - Atlanta Dream
- Indiana's Tamika Catchings Named Inaugural Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award Recipient - WNBA
- Dream Partners With Make-A-Wish Foundation - Atlanta Dream
- Lynx Team Up with Twin Cities Red Cross to Honor Children from Tornado-Ravaged Hugo, Minn. Tonight - Minnesota Lynx
- PGA Of America, WNBA Partner For Game Day Experiences Program - WNBA
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