Sun vs. Sparks: Aneesah Morrow's 17 and 14 Snap Connecticut's 3-Game Skid in 84-81 Win

The Connecticut Sun walked into Saturday night with one win, three straight double-digit losses and the general energy of a group project where nobody answers the chat. They walked out of PeoplesBank Arena with their first home victory of the season, because Aneesah Morrow would not stop grabbing the ball and Kennedy Burke kept making the right play when the building got tight.

Connecticut held off the Los Angeles Sparks 84-81 in a game with 11 lead changes, a Brittney Griner scare and a return that might matter more than either. Morrow had 17 points and 14 rebounds, her third straight double-double and her seventh of the season, the most in the WNBA.

Eleven Lead Changes and One Long Drought

Leila Lacan, playing her first game of the season, helped get the Sun moving early, and they built a 15-8 lead before the Sparks ripped off eight straight to go up 16-15. Connecticut still took a 20-18 edge out of the first quarter. In the second, Ariel Atkins hit back-to-back threes to give Los Angeles a 33-27 lead, its biggest of the night, and the Sparks were up 36-33 late before the Sun flipped it to 39-36 in the closing seconds of the half.

Griner's evening was a whole subplot. Back after missing four games with a rib injury, she scored nine points in 15 minutes and passed 6,000 for her career, becoming the 18th player in WNBA history to get there. Then she was apparently poked in the eye late in the first half and did not return.

The third quarter stayed a coin flip. Rae Burrell's three tied it at 53, the Sparks went up 58-56, rookie Nell Angloma evened it at the line and Saniya Rivers' drive put the Sun back on top in the final 40 seconds. It was 62-60 after three.

The fourth is where the Sparks' offense disappeared. Erica Wheeler scored 27 seconds into the period, and Los Angeles did not make another field goal until Wheeler scored again with 3:38 left. By then a Diamond Miller layup had Connecticut up 75-66.

Then it got fun. Wheeler's drive, an Nneka Ogwumike tip and two Atkins free throws made it 75-72. Morrow answered with a running layup, Ogwumike and Wheeler kept scoring, and Burke's driving layup off a Lacan feed made it 81-76 with 1:25 left. Burrell's 25-foot three got the Sparks to 81-79 with 52 seconds to go, but Olivia Nelson-Ododa hit two free throws with 12 seconds left, Burke added one more, and Dearica Hamby's floater at 2.2 only made the final look closer.

Morrow Is a Weekly Subscription Now

Morrow has a double-double in seven of Connecticut's 10 games, which is less a hot streak than a billing cycle. On Saturday she shot 6-of-13, went 4-of-4 at the line and pulled down 10 defensive rebounds on a team that has not had many stable things to lean on this season.

Burke might have been the most useful player in the building. Her 14 points off the bench came with six rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and she scored when the Sun needed a bucket most. Nelson-Ododa's line deserves a small shout too: no field goals, four points, all of them at the line in the final 1:48.

Then there is Lacan, who finished with 12 points and three assists on 5-of-14 shooting after winning a title and finals MVP honors with Basket Landes in France earlier this month. The reason the Sun are excited comes from last season: Connecticut went 2-17 before she returned from international duty and 9-16 after. Her shot was rusty. Her fit was not. Miller also scored 12 for the Sun.

Atkins and Burrell led Los Angeles with 16 apiece. Atkins needed just nine shots, going 8-of-8 at the line with four steals and three blocks. Wheeler scored 13, a night after her big finish in Washington. Ogwumike's 12 points and three rebounds gave her 3,315 career boards, enough to tie Tamika Catchings for fifth on the WNBA's career list. Kelsey Plum, the league's leading scorer, missed a second straight game with an ankle injury and will be re-evaluated on Tuesday.

The Turning Point: Almost Six Minutes Without a Bucket

The gap between Wheeler's two layups ran from 9:33 to 3:38, nearly six minutes in which the Sparks got all of their points at the line. Connecticut used that window to turn a one-possession game into a nine-point cushion. Los Angeles was on the second night of a back-to-back without its top scorer, and those are the minutes when that bill tends to come due. The Sparks made up plenty of ground afterward, scoring 21 in the period, but they spent the final three minutes chasing a lead they had handed over during that drought.

Stats That Matter

• 11: Sun steals, tying their season high. They also blocked nine shots, and the team says the seven steals and five blocks it piled up before halftime were its best half of the year.
• 21-16: Connecticut's edge in points off turnovers, bigger than the final margin.
• 37-29: The Sun's rebounding advantage, with Raegan Beers grabbing seven in 11 minutes.
• 25-13: Bench scoring, Connecticut. Burke alone outscored the entire Sparks reserve unit, 14-13.
• 0-for-4: Wheeler from three, on a night the Sparks needed one more long ball.

What It Means

Connecticut improves to 2-8 and 1-3 at home, ending a three-game skid in which all the losses came by double figures. The Sun play at Atlanta on Tuesday.

Los Angeles falls to 4-4. A three-game winning streak is over, and so is the perfect road record, now 3-1. The Sparks are just 1-3 at home, where they host Las Vegas on Tuesday, and the Plum update that day will matter as much as the game.

A Midseason Retool

Nobody is throwing a parade for a 2-8 team beating a depleted opponent on the second night of a back-to-back. But struggling shows get retooled at midseason all the time, and this one just added a new lead to the opening credits while keeping its reliable scene-stealer. If Lacan's numbers climb and Morrow keeps sending out her monthly statement, the Sun might finally have something worth renewing.

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