Tina Charles scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter on Thursday, lifting the Connecticut Sun to a home-and-home sweep of the Washington Mystics with a 67-56 victory in Uncasville, Conn.
Charles made 6 of 8 shots from the floor in the third quarter and finished 9 of 14 for the game. She also had six rebounds for the Sun (8-27), who followed up their 80-69 victory in Washington on Tuesday to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Charles played in her 464th game to move past Tangela Smith into 10th place all-time in league history.
Former Mystic Aaliyah Edwards scored 10 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added eight off the bench.
Connecticut benefited from a season-high 15 steals and turned 20 turnovers into 20 points. The Sun also held a 34-27 edge in rebounds and 38-28 advantage in points in the paint.
Sonia Citron scored 15 points and fellow rookie Kiki Iriafen added 13 to go along with 10 rebounds for the Mystics (16-20), who fell two full games behind the Seattle Storm for the eighth and final playoff spot. Washington dropped to 6-12 on the road this season.
Connecticut was nursing a seven-point lead at halftime before Charles sank a pair of mid-range jumpers to start the third quarter. She mixed in an off-balance hook shot with a 19-foot shot on consecutive possessions before adding another pair of mid-range jumpers.
Nelson-Ododa and Edwards each converted a short basket and a free throw to extend the Sun’s lead to 62-47 with 7:07 remaining in the fourth quarter. Connecticut wasn’t seriously challenged the rest of the way.
Stefanie Dolson sank a 3-pointer to trim the Sun’s lead to 21-16 early in the second quarter before Connecticut ignited a 9-0 run. Washington, however, halved its deficit with a 10-3 run to end the quarter.
–Field Level Media
