<\/p>\n
Breanna Stewart #30 of the New York Liberty loses the ball as she is fouled by Diamond Miller #1 of the Connecticut Sun (back) in the first quarter at Mohegan Sun Arena on June 8, 2026 in Uncasville, Connecticut.<\/p>\n
Sean D. Elliot\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
UNCASVILLE \u2014 The Connecticut Sun <\/a>can\u2019t close.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve lost multiple games this season in the final minutes, unable to keep up the energy when it matters most.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n On Monday against the 2024 WNBA champs, Connecticut nearly broke its late-game spell.<\/p>\n UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> alums Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards played the entire second half in second gear, never dropping the energy. Both put up season-best performances in a game where the Sun\u2019s\u00a0frontcourt was depleted due to injury.<\/p>\n Connecticut got within five of New York with a minute left,\u00a0but that’s when its offense again got in the way as it missed two critical free throws, ultimately falling 89-80 to the Liberty.<\/p>\n Nelson-Ododa and Edwards each scored a season-high 15 points, while Nelson-Ododa grabbed a season-high eight rebounds. Edwards, playing in her first game back after missing four with a concussion,\u00a0snatched a team-high three steals. Saniya Rivers (12) and Diamond Miller (10) also finished with double-digit scoring.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Against New York, the Sun\u2019s defense was aggressive, relentless, physical and impactful. Connecticut (2-11) forced the Liberty into 11 first-half turnovers, including holding the 2024 WNBA champs scoreless for the first two-plus minutes of the second quarter. The Sun attacked the glass with intention \u2013 whether snatching rebounds or leaping up high for perfectly timed blocks. New York (8-4) finished the first half shooting just 39% from the floor.<\/p>\n The Sun\u2019s offense, however, was another story.<\/p>\n Every time Connecticut made a huge stop on defense, its offense couldn\u2019t keep up, halting the momentum with self-inflicted mistakes. Take tip-off, for example, somehow the Sun won the tip over New York\u2019s 6-foot-11 Han Xu. Yet, after one dribble, Connecticut handed the ball over to the Liberty after being called for a backcourt violation.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Sun got balanced scoring; however, no one had more than eight points at halftime as four of its 10 players had two or more fouls.<\/p>\n With both Brittney Griner and Aneesah Morrow out due to injury, the Sun\u2019s frontcourt began the game shorthanded. Its foul trouble made things even thinner.<\/p>\n Rookie Raegan Beers got called for her fourth personal foul less than four minutes into the second half. She sat with about three minutes remaining in the third with her fifth. Right after that,\u00a0Nelson-Ododa, who checked in for Beers, got whistled for her fourth.<\/p>\n Despite her fouls, Nelson-Ododa and\u00a0Edwards were the Sun\u2019s top performers against the Liberty. Both started the game with their feet firmly on the gas, never dropping the energy. Nelson-Ododa didn\u2019t hesitate once against Xu and fellow UConn great Breanna Stewart in the post, while Edwards was effective on both ends.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Nelson-Ododa stepped into second gear in the final quarter. The former Husky center used her length to get around New York\u2019s bigs again and again. She was careful with her physicality and didn\u2019t force plays. Nelson-Ododa scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half.<\/p>\n The Sun got within one point of the Liberty four separate times during the second quarter. But it was game over once New York opened the second half on a 7-0 run to lead by double-digits (then, the largest lead of the day). Connecticut couldn\u2019t cut into New York\u2019s lead deep enough and continued to get in its own way again and again.<\/p>\n UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT – JUNE 8: Olivia Nelson-Ododa #10 of the Connecticut Sun battles inside with Breanna Stewart #30 and Han Xu #21 of the New York Liberty in the first quarter at Mohegan Sun Arena on June 8, 2026 in Uncasville, Connecticut. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sean D. Elliot\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Sean D. Elliot\/Getty Images<\/p>\n An and-one from Edwards got the Sun within seven of New York with about six and a half minutes left in the game. However, she got called for a flagrant foul on the other end immediately afterward.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Edwards’ two free throws with a minute left got the Sun within five, yet Rivers missed two free throws about 30 seconds later, ending the momentum for the night.<\/p>\n Stewart led New York with 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, becoming the fastest Liberty player to score 2, 500 points.<\/p>\n The Sun plays at Toronto on Wednesday before returning to Uncasville to host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Saturday at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n Injury updates<\/p>\n Griner missed her seventh game of the year on Monday, sitting out with a left rib injury. Griner missed four games last month also due to a rib injury.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Morrow also missed Monday\u2019s game with a left leg sprain. Morrow was seen on the sideline not participating in Sunday\u2019s practice before being ruled out of Monday\u2019s game. The second-year forward leads the league with eight double-doubles so far this season. Coach Rachid Meziane said the team would have a better estimate of Morrow\u2019s recovery timeline after further evaluation on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breanna Stewart #30 of the New York Liberty loses the ball as she is fouled by Diamond Miller…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[247854,13590,13589,99,434],"class_list":["post-692722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-all-ct-sites","tag-all-daily-sites","tag-ct-insider","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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