Alyssa Thomas breaks WNBA triple-double record in 96-72 win for Connecticut Sun over Chicago Sky

UNCASVILLE — On Saturday, the Connecticut Sun announced that two-time All-Star Brionna Jones had suffered a torn Achilles and would be out for the remainder on the season, leaving the team without its starting center and pivotal piece to its success in recent years.

A day later, the Sun rallied behind their other star, Alyssa Thomas, to notch a 96-72 victory over the Chicago Sky to add to the celebration in their annual Pride Game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

On the same day she was snubbed as an All-Star Game starter, Thomas recorded a triple-double with 14 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, along with two steals. It was the fourth triple-double of her career in the regular season, breaking the all-time WNBA record.

“With what she’s doing on the court, she should have been an All- Star starter — simple,” DeWanna Bonner said. “Man, there’s just no one like her in the world. … And now she’s the all time leader in triple-doubles, it’s kind of like, what you’re gonna do next? But it’s just, I’m honored to be playing alongside of her.

“To witness that tonight was special. I kind of looked up and I already knew that she was going to get there. They don’t put the assists on the board here, but when I saw the rebounds, I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna be a triple-double type of night.’”

In the win, Thomas also moved into first all-time in Sun franchise history in career rebounding with 1,822 rebounds. She passed Taj McWilliams-Franklin (1,814), who held the record for 17 years. Bonner  also moved into ninth all-time in scoring in WNBA history, passing Katie Smith. She now has 6,454 all time career points.

Bonner led Connecticut in scoring with 26 points and also added eight rebounds. DiJonai Carrington added 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Natisha Hiedeman had 14 points and five assists, and Tiffany Hayes notched 11 points and three assists.

Courtney Williams, who played for the Sun last season as well as from 2016 to 2019,  finished with 11 points, five assists and five rebounds. Kahleah Copper led the Sky with 29 points and seven rebounds.

With less than six minutes left in the first quarter, Hayes appeared to get hit in the face and went down on the court. She was helped up by team trainer Nicole Alexander and walked back to the locker room with an ice back on her face, leaving the Sun without another starter. Connecticut trailed 14-11 at that point, with all of the Sky’s points coming by way of the paint.

The Sun trailed the Sky 27-26 at the end of the first quarter. They gave up 22 points in the paint and allowed Chicago to shoot 75% inside of the arc, the loss of Jones very much felt on the defensive end of the floor.

“A lot of it was just us not getting through screens, not being in the right positions,” Thomas said. “At the same time, we’re still learning this lineup, we’re still still learning the post, we’re working on the fly, not too much practice. So yeah, we’re gonna have some some bumps as we’re working this out. But we talked through it and worked with each other and and we just go from there.”

Luckily for the Sun, Hayes rejoined the team on the bench toward the end of the first quarter and re-entered the game shortly into the second.

Midway through the quarter, fellow former UConn star Olivia Nelson-Ododa grabbed an offensive board off a miss from Thomas and put it back up for the score. Thomas flexed and let out a celebratory shout, hyping up the second year player, who is expected to play a much bigger role with Jones’ injury.

“Everyone has to come in and and do more,” Thomas said. “Liv coming in and doing the little things with offensive rebounding and putbacks, I mean, that’s what we need. And we lost a huge piece, so it’s going to take a team effort. Not one person can do it by themselves. And as you can see, little by little, everyone is adding more.”

Thomas came up with a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and passed it to Hiedeman, who hit midrange jumper. Thomas and Hiedeman connected for another big shot on the next possession as well as the Sun strung together a run. Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and found Hiedeman, who splashed home a triple from the corner to give the Sun a 42-33 lead with 4:28 left in the second.

“She’s like a coach on the floor,” Sun head coach Stephanie White said of Thomas. “She’s an incredibly high IQ player. And when you have a player that has that will to win, that has that competitive fire, that just plays their ass off all the time, that knows how to play too, I mean that’s that’s what you get. It’s really incredible that she’s accomplished what she’s accomplished with this triple double record already, and she’s really young in her career.”

The Sun led the Sky 54-42 at halftime after holding their opponent to only six points in the paint and 35% shooting in the second quarter.

Following a layup from Thomas to open the frame, the Sky went on a 10-0 run in a little over two minutes early into the third quarter to cut the Sun’s lead to single digits. The run was sparked by the play of Copper as the home team struggled to get shots to fall. Bonner then responded with a layup to get Connecticut’s lead back up to 10 with a little over six minutes left.

With a little over a minute and a half left in the third, Thomas grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw from Copper. Then on the other end of the floor, she passed the ball to to Carrington on the wing, who then drove inside for the layup. The sequence gave Thomas the last rebound and assist she needed to notch the triple-double and ink her name into the WNBA history books.

“I mean, I’ve been doing this since college, so is this isn’t new,” Thomas said. “But it just comes to who you’re playing with. I said to them, none of this possible without them. So my name might be on it, but a lot of credit goes to my teammates and so far this year for me I feel like it’s been the easiest for me with the way that they’re knocking down shots.”

By the end of the quarter, Connecticut held a firm 77-63 lead over Chicago.

Scoring was sparse for both teams to start the fourth quarter, until Hayes made a layup with a little over six minutes left. Carrington made a layup off a steal from Nelson-Ododa after that to extend the Sun’s lead to 15 points.

Later in the quarter, Bonner hit a jumper to kickstart a 12-0 run that would extend Connecticut’s lead to 94-70 with 2:11 left.

Following a timeout in which Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” played to celebrate Thomas’ historic feat, the Sun coasted to victory from as they continued to build their advantage.

“It’s special,” White said of the moment. “Players, when you’re in it, you don’t always understand how special it is. I think it takes time, when you’ve been away from the game for a while to really reflect on on how incredible some of the milestones are. But those of us who are watching, we know, right. And so, AT probably doesn’t like all that attention and all and all that celebration for her, but for us just to appreciate what she has brought and what she continues to bring to the table and to celebrate her greatness is important. And you can see her teammates loved it, it was a great moment.”