Diana Taurasi rarely lost in the state of Connecticut while she was in college. Now that she's a professional, she's having trouble winning there.

The former UConn star will look to lead her defending champion Phoenix Mercury to their first road win over the Connecticut Sun since 2004 when they continue their five-game trip on Sunday.

Taurasi's Huskies went 75-2 when playing in their home state during her college career, which included three consecutive national championships from 2002-04.

In four visits to Connecticut with Phoenix, however, Taurasi has already lost more games than she did in college. After scoring 26 points in a Mercury win there during her rookie season in 2004, Phoenix has lost three straight at the Sun, and Taurasi had only 13 points in a 76-67 loss there last year.

This season, the former No. 1 overall draft pick is averaging nearly twice that, leading the WNBA with 24.7 points per game. Teammate Cappie Pondexter is second with 24.2 points, helping lead the league's best offense that's averaging more than 88 points.

Phoenix also has the WNBA's worst defense, allowing more than 89 points per game.

While the Mercury (6-7) began the season 0-4 and dropped six of their first eight after winning their first league title last year, they've rebounded with wins in four of their last five - with Taurasi topping 30 points three times over that span.

"We have the nucleus back but it still takes a little bit of time to get used to each other," Taurasi said. "We're looking at all these games as a training camp as getting in condition to play the way we want to play mentally and physically. It's starting to come together a little bit."

The Mercury will seek a third straight victory for the first time this season on Sunday. After dropping the first game of their road trip, they notched wins at Washington and Chicago, beating the Sky 89-79 on Thursday as six players scored in double figures.

The Sun (12-4) have won five straight at home, but barely survived against the winless Atlanta Dream on Friday, handing the expansion team its 14th straight loss to start the season in a 109-101 overtime win.

Asjha Jones had 30 points and Tamika Whitmore added 28, with the duo combining for 14 of Connecticut's 20 points in overtime. The Sun overcame 44 points from Atlanta's Betty Lennox.

Taurasi had 32 points and Pondexter 22 as the Mercury beat Connecticut 102-81 in Phoenix on June 18.

"They are an up-tempo team and they have two main players who are really good," Jones said of the Mercury after that game. "So going in you just hope you can defend them well. ... When they both get hot like tonight you're in for a long game."

The home team has won the last five games in this series.