Sun vs. Mercury: Leila Lacan Scores Career-High 26 as Connecticut Never Trails in 96-83 Win

Mercury is the planet that orbits closest to the Sun, and on Friday night in Phoenix it looked about as comfortable as you would expect.

Leila Lacan needed just 13 shots to score a career-high 26 points, the Connecticut Sun led from the opening basket to the final horn, and the Phoenix Mercury lost 96-83 at Mortgage Matchup Center for their fifth straight defeat. This was the first half of a two-game set between two teams that came in with a combined 14 wins. Only one of them looked like it was enjoying the weekend.

Eight-Zero Before Anyone Sat Down

Connecticut made its point before the crowd had settled. The Sun opened on an 8-0 run, with Brittney Griner scoring six of those points against the franchise she played for over her first 11 WNBA seasons. That's a fun way to walk back into your old house. She and the Mercury split after 2024, this was only her second game back in town, and she looked plenty familiar with the place.

Phoenix also had an early scare when Monique Akoa Makani caught an accidental elbow from Griner right after the tip and made a brief trip to the locker room. She returned, but never found a rhythm, finishing scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting.

Phoenix hung around for a bit, and it was 26-21 after one. Then came the second quarter, which is the reason nobody needed to stay up late on the East Coast for this one. Connecticut led 34-26 when Lacan took over. She hit a three, finished a three-point play and added a layup, eight straight points that capped an 11-0 run and made it 45-26 with 4:10 left in the half.

Phoenix's offense basically vanished: a scoreless drought close to four minutes, a field-goal drought close to five, and eight giveaways in the quarter. Connecticut won the quarter 28-16 and took a 54-37 lead into the break, tying its largest halftime lead of the season.

Phoenix did what home teams are supposed to do after a halftime like that. It came out with an 8-0 run that cut it to 54-45, and for a few minutes this looked like it might get interesting. The Sun steadied immediately. That single-digit lead didn't last, Connecticut pushed it back to 73-59 after three, and the fourth quarter became mostly a free-throw contest. The Sun's only points in the last five minutes came at the line, and the Mercury closed with a string of foul shots that made the final look closer than it was.

Lacan's Efficiency Was Absurd

Lacan's previous career high was 24, and she blew past it in a very efficient way: 10 of 13 from the field, 1 of 3 from three, 5 of 5 at the line. She added four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in 28 minutes, finished plus-15 and committed one turnover. Taking 13 shots to score 26 points is the type of math coaches frame and hang in the office.

Her teammates were happy to follow along. Kennedy Burke scored 13 off the bench on 3-of-6 from deep, Griner had 12 with six rebounds and four assists, Aaliyah Edwards added 12 with seven rebounds in 24 minutes, and Diamond Miller scored 11. Saniya Rivers returned from a two-game absence with a left ankle sprain and gave Connecticut six points in 14 minutes. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored just four, but her seven assists kept all of this moving.

For Phoenix, Kahleah Copper did what she could with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes, and Valeriane Ayayi scored 13 off the bench with 8 of 8 at the line. DeWanna Bonner grabbed 10 rebounds but shot 4 of 11 for eight points, and the Mercury got almost nothing from three, going 4 of 15.

The Second Quarter Was the Whole Story

Turning points don't usually arrive this early, but this game was effectively over at the end of that 11-0 run. A 19-point lead before halftime gives any team room to play freely, and Connecticut did exactly that. Phoenix outscored the Sun 46-42 after the break, which is nice for morale and meaningless for the standings.

The mechanism was simple. The Sun forced mistakes and ran. Phoenix's 15 total turnovers became 25 Connecticut points, and the Sun won fast-break points 19-6. Connecticut's 11 giveaways produced only 12 points going the other way. In a game where both teams shot reasonably well, that's a lot of free offense to spot your opponent, and the Mercury spent the rest of the night paying it back.

Stats That Matter

• 25-12: Points off turnovers, Connecticut. Phoenix gave away too many possessions to recover.
• 19-6: Fast-break points. The Sun were faster to everything.
• 52%: Connecticut's shooting, with 24 assists on 36 made baskets.
• 0: Lead changes in the game. Phoenix never held a lead, not for a single possession.

What It Means

Connecticut is 7-18 and 3-8 on the road. Those aren't numbers anyone will print on a banner, but this is only the second time all season the Sun have strung two wins together, and they are 5-3 in their last eight, which counts as real progress for a team that's still 11 games under .500. They have also found something in Lacan.

Phoenix falls to 8-18 and 3-9 at home. The five-game losing streak now includes losses to Chicago, Indiana, Las Vegas, Minnesota and this one, and the last of those might sting the most, since it came against a team with six wins coming in.

There's no time to dwell on it, because they do it again on Sunday in the same building.

The Takeaway

Back-to-back games between the same two teams are basically a relationship test: one team spends a day and a half thinking about what went wrong, the other spends it wondering whether it can happen twice. The Sun have the answer they wanted from Friday. For Lacan, 26 points on 13 shots is a new line on the résumé and a very loud reminder to the league. The Mercury, meanwhile, need to find a different gravitational pull by Sunday, because this one burned.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Team notes from the Connecticut Sun's game recap.