Sun-Shock Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jul 05 2012 1:36PM

Opponents have been successful at limiting Tina Charles in recent games, and that's helped cool off the Connecticut Sun following a strong start.

The U.S. Olympian will attempt to break out of that funk Friday night and get the Eastern Conference leaders back in the win column with a road game against the Tulsa Shock, owners of the WNBA's worst record.

Charles averaged 20.2 points and shot 50.8 percent during the Sun's 9-2 start, but she's scored 10.7 and made 28.3 percent from the field over the last three games.

The Sun have lost two of those, with Charles going 4 of 20 and finishing with 13 points in the latest defeat, 89-83 in overtime to Seattle on Sunday.

"She is getting double-teamed a lot," coach Mike Thibault said. "She has missed some shots that she normally makes. I thought early in the game (Sunday), she settled for some jump shots. I thought that she had a matchup where she could attack inside."

Charles and the Sun (10-4) will try for a better performance against the Shock (2-12), though a strong showing from the center couldn't lift Connecticut to a win in its most recent trip to Tulsa on Aug. 28.

Charles scored 21 points and shot 9 of 13 while grabbing 10 rebounds, but Renee Montgomery was the only other Sun player to score in double figures in the 83-72 loss.

Tulsa couldn't follow up a rare victory with another one in its last game, falling 102-92 to Atlanta on Friday after routing Los Angeles by 16 points three days earlier.

The Shock allowed the Dream shoot 60.9 percent and go 6 of 11 from 3-point range. Ivory Latta and Glory Johnson each scored 16 for Tulsa.

"They were getting easy baskets and we can't let teams do that," Latta said. "We have to play hard for 40 minutes."

Latta averaged a team-best 22.5 points and made 76.0 percent from the floor against Connecticut last season as the teams split two matchups. She scored 19 points and hit eight of 11 shots Aug. 28.

Connecticut has lost three straight to Western Conference opponents but is 4-1 on the road this season. Tulsa is 0-4 against East teams and 2-6 at home.

Sun topple Shock 86-75

Posted Jul 06 2012 10:53PM

TULSA, Okla. (AP) Tina Charles had a team-high 24 points and added 10 rebounds to lead Connecticut to an 86-75 victory against Tulsa on Friday.

Charles, who had just four points in the first quarter, had 12 by halftime and tallied 12 more in the second half to post the 55th double-double of her career, a Connecticut franchise record.

``She was good down the stretch,'' Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said of Charles. ``She really wanted the ball.''

Asjha Jones also had a double-double for the Eastern Conference-leading Sun (11-4) with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The double-doubles for Charles and Jones marked the third straight game that the duo has accomplished the feat.

``That shows you why they are both Olympians,'' Thibault said of Charles and Jones, who are both members of Team USA for the Olympics in London.

Kara Lawson had 14 points and six of the Sun's 25 assists - a season best for Connecticut. Five Sun players had three or more assists.

Reserve Mistie Mims added 10 points and six rebounds for Connecticut.

Tulsa's Ivory Latta also had 24 points, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Kayla Pedersen added 10 points and five assists for the Shock (2-13).

Charles, who played only five minutes in the first period after two quick fouls, returned to hit a pair of free throws to give Connecticut the lead at 29-27 with 6:06 remaining in the second quarter.

She tallied eight of her 12 first-half points in a 19-7 run that gave the Sun a 46-34 halftime advantage.

Tulsa closed within 55-52 midway the third quarter. But Allison Hightower scored four of her six points in an 11-2 burst to finish the period to give the Sun a 66-54 lead entering the final period.

Tan White scored seven of her nine points in the final 10 minutes to help keep Tulsa at bay.

The Sun rolled to a 25-10 lead after one quarter, hitting 64.7 percent from the field. Lawson had two of the Sun's 3-pointers in the period.

Meanwhile, Tulsa managed just 21.1 percent from the floor in the opening 10 minutes.

``That really was the difference, the slow start,'' Tulsa coach Gary Kloppenburg said. ``We're just not good enough to have lapses like that.''

But Latta opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers and had 11 points in a 17-2 Tulsa run that tied the game at 27 with 6:32 to go before halftime.

``She played an outstanding game,'' Kloppenburg said. She got good shots and knocked them down. We just needed a couple more players to step up for us.''

• Sun: --
• Shock: --

• Sun: --
• Shock: Johnson

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: BOK Center, Tulsa, OK
• Officials: #62 Jeff Wooten, #31 Amy Bonner, #8 Daryl Humphrey
• Attendance: 4318
• Duration: 1:48