Sun vs. Storm: Kennedy Burke's And-One With 2.8 Left Gives Connecticut Its First Win of the Season, 80-78

The Connecticut Sun had spent nearly two weeks discovering new ways to lose. They had been blown out by 31 and by 29. They had lost a shootout to Las Vegas. Two nights earlier in Portland, they had fallen by a single point when a halfcourt heave came up short. So when Seattle went up 78-75 with 40.8 seconds to play, you knew exactly how this episode was supposed to end.

It did not end that way. Kennedy Burke scored on a running layup with 2.8 seconds left, got the whistle and sank the free throw, and on Wednesday night the Connecticut Sun finally had a win to their name, 80-78 over the Seattle Storm, their first of the season. Natisha Hiedeman got a clean look from straight away at the buzzer. It missed. After five straight losses, Connecticut finally got to find out what a winning locker room feels like.

The Kids Took the Keys

The strangest thing about this win is who produced it. Three of Connecticut's starters, Aneesah Morrow, Gianna Kneepkens and Hailey Van Lith, went 1 of 7 from the floor and scored four points between them, and Brittney Griner, who led the team with 16 in Portland, was not in the box score. Morrow had piled up double-doubles in four straight games, but she left with 6:40 to go in the first half and never returned, finishing with two points and three rebounds in seven minutes. Kneepkens played only four.

So the second half opened with three rookies on the floor: Raegan Beers, Nell Angloma and Charlisse Leger-Walker. Three first-year players, on the road, on a team that had yet to win. Naturally, that group kept the Sun in front.

Connecticut had been in control for most of the night, up 29-23 after one quarter, 46-41 at the half and 63-59 going to the fourth. The Sun led for 77 percent of the game. They were up 73-67 after Ashlon Jackson scored with 3:42 left, and it felt for a moment like they might get to do this the easy way.

Seattle Almost Stole It

Hiedeman buried a 29-footer at 3:17. Jade Melbourne made two free throws at 2:02 to make it 73-72. Leger-Walker floated one in from eight feet, Hiedeman answered from seven, and then Melbourne produced the wildest play of the game: a reverse layup at 59.0, her first field goal of the night, which put Seattle up 76-75 and handed the Storm their first lead of the second half. Mackenzie Holmes followed with two free throws, and Climate Pledge Arena had the game it came for.

Melbourne's line is its own strange work of art. She scored 11 points on one made field goal, going 1 of 4 from the floor and 9 of 10 from the line. Hiedeman finished with 20 points and five assists. Holmes, off the bench, posted a career-high 18 on 6-of-8 shooting, and she added six rebounds and two blocks. Zia Cooke had 10. The Storm were also without Dominique Malonga, who sat out her second straight game in the concussion protocol.

A Night of Career Highs

Leger-Walker was the steadiest hand Connecticut had, scoring a career-high 16 and delivering the assist on the game-winner. Angloma, the No. 12 pick in the draft, had a career-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds and three steals. Beers, who went undrafted, gave the Sun a career-best 10 points and eight rebounds, and she finished plus-12. Aaliyah Edwards added 12. Saniya Rivers scored only two points, but she posted a team-best plus-19 in 13 minutes.

Burke finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 3 of 5 from deep, with six rebounds. Nobody will remember any of that except the last two points and the free throw.

The way this team got there matters too. The Sun went just 5 of 20 from 3, so this was not a hot-shooting fluke. They won it with 11 offensive rebounds, 10 steals and a steady march to the rim, which is the kind of work a young roster can repeat on a night the shots are not falling.

The Last 31.9 Seconds

Down 78-75, Edwards drove for a layup at 31.9 to make it a one-point game. Seattle then came up empty on the other end, which set up the sequence the Sun had spent five games failing to get right. Leger-Walker found Burke on the move, Burke finished through contact, and the free throw put Connecticut up two. All that was left was Hiedeman's look, and for once the shot that could have broken Connecticut's heart did not fall.

Stats That Matter

• 50-36: Connecticut's edge in the paint.
• 14-4: The Sun's edge in fast-break points.
• 20-11: Connecticut's advantage in points off turnovers, thanks to 17 total Seattle giveaways.
• 38-26: The rebounding margin, with the Sun grabbing 11 on the offensive end.
• 22 of 25 vs. 11 of 17: Free throws, the reason Seattle was in this game at all.

Where Everybody Stands

The Sun are 1-5 and 1-2 on the road. They entered the night 0-5, and the AP had that as a tie for the franchise's longest season-opening losing streak. That is one tie they no longer have to worry about breaking.

Seattle falls to 1-4 and 0-2 at home, with three straight losses, to Toronto, Indiana and now Connecticut. The Storm will not have to wait long for a chance at revenge, because the same two teams play again Friday in Seattle.

Groundhog Day Ends at 2.8 Seconds

Bill Murray had to live the same miserable day over and over until he finally got one right, and Connecticut has a pretty good idea how that felt. Five games, five of the same morning, including a Portland loss that ended on the wrong side of a buzzer. Then a team that had lost one starter early and leaned on three rookies woke up in Seattle and the clock finally moved forward. It is only one win. But the Sun will be happy to report that it is, at long last, tomorrow.

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