Sun vs. Fire: Aaliyah Edwards Scores 21 Off the Bench as Connecticut Survives Portland's 13-0 Rally, 90-87

The last shot of Tuesday's game never touched the rim. Portland was down three with 7.4 seconds left and coming out of a timeout, and Carla Leite drove the lane and found Bridget Carleton in the corner, which is more or less the look you'd draw up. The ball had other plans. The horn sounded, and Connecticut could finally exhale.

Aaliyah Edwards scored 21 off the bench, Brittney Griner added 20, and the Sun beat the Fire 90-87 at Mohegan Sun Arena in an 11 a.m. tip that delivered more heartburn than brunch is supposed to. For a while, it looked like it would be a comfortable morning.

Fourteen Up, Then One Up

Portland actually had the early edge, going ahead 15-12 on a Carleton 3 before Connecticut scored seven straight. Then Edwards took over. She accounted for 13 of the Sun's 32 points in the first quarter, and it was 32-23 after one. Connecticut led 50-40 at the half, pushed its lead as high as 15 at one point, and was up 72-58 with 55.1 seconds left in the third. At that moment, the Sun had the look of a team ready to get on with its day.

Portland had other ideas. The Fire scored the last five points of the third and the first eight of the fourth, a 13-0 run that turned a 14-point hole into a 72-71 game with 7:52 left. Emily Engstler had four of those fourth-quarter points, and Megan DiLeo's cut to the basket got it to one.

Griner's basket finally ended the run, and what followed was the best stretch of the game. Portland never could get over the top, but it kept coming: 80-76 on an Engstler drive, 82-79 on a DiLeo step-back 3 from 24 feet, 84-81 on a Leite layup and 84-83 on a 6-footer by Engstler with 2:27 left.

Then Edwards had her say. She hit a 16-footer off a Leila Lacan pass, added two free throws 25 seconds later, and Lacan went coast-to-coast for a reverse layup with 1:13 left. At 90-83, the thing looked finished.

It was not. Sarah Ashlee Barker scored on a drive at 1:05, and Carleton's 10-foot turnaround made it 90-87 with 40.9 seconds left. Lacan, the hero of moments earlier, missed a layup on the next trip and then turned it over with 20 seconds left, which set up that final look.

A Bench Star and a Big Problem

Edwards was the best player on the floor. She scored her 21 on 9-of-13 shooting, went 3-of-3 at the line, and added eight rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes, and she did all of it as a reserve. Griner was right behind her, shooting 8-of-11 with six assists and two blocks on the same floor where she became the WNBA's career blocks leader last month.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa scored 16, including a perfect 8-of-8 at the line, and the Sun say she passed 900 career points in the process. Lacan had 14 points and three steals, and the wobbly ending doesn't erase the layup that gave Connecticut its cushion. Rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker scored just four on 2-of-8 shooting, but she ran the show with seven assists and three steals.

Portland got contributions from everywhere, which is what made this so tough to lose. Leite led the Fire with 18 on 6-of-11 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 at the line, plus six assists, although her six turnovers stung. DiLeo scored 15 and grabbed five rebounds. Engstler stuffed the sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Carleton added 12, and Karlie Samuelson was perfect in her 16 minutes, going 2-of-2 from 3 and 2-of-2 at the line for eight points.

Hot From Deep, Cold Inside

Edwards' back-to-back scores after 84-83 are the obvious hinge. But this game was really decided by a simpler fact: Portland could not keep Connecticut away from the rim.

The Fire won almost every flashy number. They went 9-of-26 from 3 to the Sun's 3-of-14, an 18-point swing. They made 20 of 21 free throws. They turned Connecticut's 16 turnovers into 26 points and won the fast break 16-4. Most nights, that's a win.

But the Sun shot 52 percent, scored 46 in the paint to Portland's 36, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to four and took seven more shots. They also assisted on 28 of their 35 field goals, which tells you how clean those looks were. Connecticut led 91 percent of the game because it kept getting the easy ones, and Portland spent the whole day trying to make up for that the hard way.

Stats That Matter

• 46-36: Connecticut's advantage in the paint.
• 28-19: Assists, with the Sun moving the ball all game.
• 9-of-26 vs. 3-of-14: Portland's 3-point edge, worth 18 points.
• 26-11: Points off turnovers, Portland's way, and it still wasn't enough.
• 13-0: The Fire run that turned a coast into a coin flip.

What It Means

Connecticut moves to 6-18 and 4-10 at home. The win ends a two-game skid and is the Sun's first over Portland in three tries this season, after losses of 83-82 and 71-61 in May. Next comes a Friday trip to Phoenix.

Portland slips to 10-14 and 4-8 on the road, three days after a 102-92 win at Atlanta. The Fire have a quick turnaround with a Thursday game at Washington, their first trip back since that 124-123 loss in four overtimes on June 28.

Brunch Was Not Supposed to Be This Stressful

An 11 a.m. tip is supposed to be a low-stakes affair. You have a coffee, you watch some ball, and you're out in time for lunch. Instead, the 8,917 at Mohegan Sun got a 14-point lead evaporating in about three minutes, a one-point game with 2:27 left, a seven-point cushion nearly thrown away, and a last shot that never found iron. The Sun get the win. Everyone's blood pressure takes the loss.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game notes from the Connecticut Sun. Context as reported by the Associated Press.