Shock-Sun Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Aug 20 2012 1:17PM

Tina Charles didn't want to come out of the Connecticut Sun's last game.

If she has that same feeling Tuesday, it could be a long night for the league-worst Tulsa Shock.

Charles and the Eastern Conference-leading Sun go for a season sweep of the Shock, who are mired in an 11-game road losing streak.

After scoring a season-low four points in Thursday's 79-66 loss at New York - the team's first game back from the WNBA's Olympic break - Charles finished with 23 points and nine rebounds Saturday in an 85-74 victory over the Liberty.

The league's second-leading rebounder (11.2 per game) played 38 minutes, including all 20 in the first half.

"I have never not taken her out in the first half," coach Mike Thibault said. "I talked to her and said, 'You let me know when you need a sub tonight.' She said, 'Coach, I'm staying out there.' So, 'Yes, ma'am.' I might not say that to some other people, but I know when she is feeling that way.

"She had that look in her eye. I know she didn't like the other night in New Jersey and she wanted to make up for it."

Charles' production could be even more important moving forward with fellow U.S. gold medalist Asjha Jones batting a strained left Achilles' tendon. Jones missed the Sun's final contest before the London Games, played sparingly in the Olympics and has sat out both games since the break.

Mistie Mims has stepped up her game in Jones' absence, averaging 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds while starting each of the last three contests.

While Connecticut (16-5) has been able to fill the void left by its star forward, the Shock (3-17) have stumbled without their best player, center Elizabeth Cambage.

The 2011 All-Star hasn't played with Tulsa all season after training with the Australian team that won bronze in London, and she's not expected back until Aug. 30 against Los Angeles.

Rookie forward Glory Johnson has given the Shock a tough low-post presence with 12.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, but Tulsa is averaging a league-low 30.0 boards.

The Shock have been outscored by a combined 29 points in the fourth quarter of their two losses following the break.

"We need to go back to the drawing board and figure out why we're giving up so easy in the second half," Johnson said after Tulsa was outscored 25-7 in the final 10 minutes of Sunday's 83-59 loss at league-best Minnesota.

The Shock didn't look ready to go in the first quarter of their 86-75 home loss to the Sun on July 6, getting outscored 25-10. Charles played just five minutes of that opening period due to foul trouble but finished with 24 points and 10 boards.

Tulsa is the league's only team without a road win at 0-8 and has lost 11 straight away from home since a 77-75 victory over Los Angeles on Aug. 26.

The franchise record for consecutive road losses is 17 from July 24, 2001-July 18, 2002, when the team was based in Detroit.

Lawson's 3-pointer in OT lifts Sun past Shock

Posted Aug 21 2012 11:00PM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Two days after getting a contract extension, Kara Lawson showed why the Connecticut Sun were eager to keep her for a few more years.

Lawson scored 19 points, including a wide-open 3-pointer from the left corner with 11.8 seconds left in overtime to give Connecticut an 82-80 win over the Tulsa Shock on Tuesday night.

Lawson, who signed a three-year extension on Sunday, also had four rebounds and four assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Sun (17-5).

Renee Montgomery scored 16 points and Tina Charles, battling a sinus infection, had 13 points and eight rebounds for Connecticut. Allison Hightower added 12 points and Mistie Mims had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

.Temeka Johnson had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Shock (3-18) and Jennifer Lacy scored 14. Roneeka Hodges and Ivory Latta scored 13 points each and rookie Glory Johnson had a game-high 15 rebounds.

Connecticut trailed 80-79 with time running out in overtime when Lawson got open.

``They were really loading up on the strong side,'' Lawson said. ``Put everybody in the paint, so weakside, especially the corner, a lot of times is where the open player was if you can reverse it and get it there.''

Sun coach Mike Thibault said, ``Kara doesn't have any fear. Great players want to take big shots.''

Latta missed a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in overtime and Hightower grabbed the rebound to end the game.

``We had a couple of chances,'' Tulsa head coach Gary Kloppenburg said. ``It was a hell of a game. I feel bad for our kids. They've been battling all year. We've been in a lot of close games. We just haven't been able to finish against the really good teams.''

Temeka Johnson's layup gave Tulsa a 79-78 lead with 18.2 seconds left in overtime. It was just the fifth basket of that period.

The Shock had a chance to win in regulation, but Kalana Greene's putback with 13 seconds left tied the game at 74-all.

``The ball was kind of bouncing loose, and (Greene) got it and put it in,'' Kloppenburg said. ``We come up with that ball, we're probably going to win the game. They have to start fouling us.''

Latta missed an 18-foot jumper in the final second as the game went into overtime.

Tulsa trailed by three points with less than 3 minutes left when Amber Holt made a contested pull-up jumper to cut the deficit to one point.

Over a minute later, Hodges was left wide-open in the left corner. She made a 3-pointer to push the Shock ahead 74-72 with 1:41 left in regulation.

Hodges made three 3-pointers in the first 6 minutes to give the Shock a 15-8 lead.

There were 13 lead changes. Connecticut had the largest advantage, 40-32, with seconds left in the first half.

• Shock: --
• Sun: --

• Shock: --
• Sun: --

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Officials: #8 Daryl Humphrey, #18 Kurt Walker, #43 Brenda Pantoja
• Attendance: 6745
• Duration: 2:14