Mistie Bass made a layup off an inbounds play with 11 seconds remaining Wednesday night and the Sun edged the Atlanta Dream, 78-77.
The last-place Sun (9-23) kept second-place Atlanta (17-15) from moving a step closer to clinching the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
"They're just fun," Connecticut coach Anne Donovan said of her eight players, who also defeated Washington last week. "They never give up. I'm sure Atlanta thought we were dead in the water several times. This team doesn't go there."
Bass led the Sun with 15 points. Renee Montgomery scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth period for the Sun, while Kelsey Griffin scored 12 and Tan White had 11.
Angel McCoughtry led Atlanta with 23 points and 10 rebounds. McCoughtry entered the game averaging 29.7 points against Connecticut this season, including three games with at least 30 points.
Erika DeSouza had 16 points for the Dream and Jasmine Thomas scored 15. Thomas hit a jumper with 12.7 seconds left that had given Atlanta a 76-75 lead.
Kalana Greene inbounded the ball to Bass, who used a key screen from Montgomery to get free for the layup.
"It took a little bit of time, but it got there," Greene said of the pass, which barely came within the required five seconds. "Great screen by Renee. Great execution."
Thomas and Tiffany Hayes missed shots in the final seconds for the Dream.
Connecticut played without reigning WNBA MVP Tina Charles and guards Kara Lawson, Allison Hightower and Kelly Faris, all of whom have season-ending injuries.
Atlanta committed 27 turnovers but outrebounded the Sun, 37-27.
"You can't have 27 turnovers and expect to come out victorious and there is no excuse for us. We threw a lot of unforced turnovers trying to make that extra pass and it just didn't happen for us tonight," Atlanta coach Fred Williams said.
The Dream led by as many as nine in the first half. But Connecticut, despite shooting 37 percent, used a 10-0 run to take a brief lead.
Atlanta led 37-36 at halftime.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/9/265481