Dream-Sun Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Sep 22 2012 3:58PM

The Connecticut Sun will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they go into the regular-season finale still chasing one more goal.

The Sun are attempting to finish with the WNBA's second-best record and will try to secure that by knocking off the surging Atlanta Dream on Sunday.

Connecticut (24-9) will head into the postseason as the favorite to capture the East title, having recorded its winningest season since posting a franchise-record 26 victories in 2005 and 2006.

The Sun will begin the playoffs at home Thursday against New York, while No. 3 seed Atlanta opens at Indiana on Friday.

Connecticut, though, would like to have one more edge should it reach the WNBA finals and face a team other than league-best Minnesota. It can gain that with a victory over Atlanta (19-14).

"We're trying to win a game to have the second-best record in the league (behind the Lynx)," coach Mike Thibault said.

A victory would give them one more than Los Angeles, the second-place team in the West. Should they lose Sunday, the Sun would finish tied with the Sparks, and Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series.

Connecticut moved closer to that goal with a 73-67 win over the second-place Fever on Wednesday but was hardly thrilled with its performance. The Sun allowed Indiana to trim a 17-point lead in the third quarter down to five with 1:40 remaining.

Kara Lawson helped her team prevail by scoring nine of her team-best 23 points in the final four minutes.

"I think we're just a little disappointed," Lawson said. "They got it down to a two-possession game in the fourth, and we talked about at the start of the fourth about not letting up and putting the game away."

The Sun have won four of five but lost 87-80 in Atlanta on Sept. 2 as league scoring leader Angel McCoughtry scored 18 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter. That game marked McCoughtry's return from a two-game suspension for violating an undisclosed team rule.

With McCoughtry back, Atlanta has won seven of eight and a season-high four in a row. The U.S. Olympian, averaging 21.8 points, scored 21 in a 75-66 win at Chicago on Thursday.

The Dream now look to match their franchise record of 20 wins from a year ago, when they swept the Sun to open the playoffs en route to a second straight WNBA finals appearance.

"We're trying to get to 20 and keep winning," forward Sancho Lyttle said. "It keeps us motivated to go (further)."

Connecticut has won two of three matchups with the Dream this season, including 92-73 at home June 10 behind Tina Charles' 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Lawson added 21 points and converted all five 3-point attempts. The Sun made 61.7 from the field for the second-best shooting performance in franchise history.

Lawson sets 3-point mark, lifts Sun over Dream

Posted Sep 23 2012 8:28PM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Kara Lawson had 21 points, eight rebounds, and set a franchise record for 3-pointers in a season as the Connecticut Sun finished the regular season with a 92-72 win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday.

Lawson has made 74 3-pointers this season, topping Katie Douglas' mark of 73 set in 2006.

Tina Charles had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Sun (25-9). She also finished with a WNBA-best 345 rebounds and a 10.5 average. Charles also broke her franchise scoring record with 18 points per game. She set the mark last season (17.6).

``It's cool,'' Charles said, unaware she had set both marks.

Lawson pledged to donate $50 per 3-pointer this season to the Pat Summitt Foundation, named in honor of her former Tennessee coach. The organization was founded shortly after Summitt was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

Connecticut has pledged $50 for every 3-pointer, too.

``I didn't know that I was in the game (to get the record),'' Lawson said with a laugh. ``I was kind of looking over like, `All right. Sub. At some point.' I didn't realize that was the reason I was in there. I would've probably shot one sooner.

``The 3-pointers since from the beginning of the year have taken on an extra meaning.''

Mistie Mims had nine points and five steals, and Kalana Greene scored 12 for Connecticut, which had already clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Sun also finished with the league's second-best record.

Lindsay Harding scored 16 points, and Erika de Souza had 13 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta (19-15). Angel McCoughtry added 12 points and secured the league's scoring title with an average of 21.4.

Connecticut will open its best-of-three, first-round playoff series against the New York Liberty on Thursday. Atlanta will take on the Indiana Fever in Game 1 on Friday.

The Sun, who never trailed, grabbed their biggest lead on Renee Montgomery's layup with 44.6 seconds remaining.

``I thought we ran the ball down the court well, which is how we want to play in the playoffs,'' Lawson said. ``Particularly when you're talking about a defensive team like New York. They like to settle into their halfcourt defense, which makes it difficult for me to run my stuff.

``The pace was good and we got contributions from a lot of people. It all starts this Thursday, whether you're ready or not, it doesn't matter.''

The Dream started poorly, missing 16 of 19 shots in the first quarter and falling into an 18-8 hole.

``I wanted to give everybody some minutes,'' Dream coach Fred Williams said. ``The first quarter, we came out a little flat with some shots that didn't go down for us. It kind of set the tone, but we hung in there all the way into the middle of the fourth quarter.''

• Dream: --
• Sun: --

• Dream: --
• Sun: Thibault

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #4 Sue Blauch, #13 Cameron Inouye
• Attendance: 9143
• Duration: 1:46