Jones Lifts Sun to Win Over Mystics

Asjha Jones scored 10 of her season-high 23 points in the fourth period and the Connecticut Sun snapped a two-game losing streak with an 88-78 win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night.

The Sun (13-10) moved with a half-game of the Mystics (13-9) for third place in the Eastern Conference.

Renee Montgomery scored 17 points for the Sun, while Tina Charles had 15 points and nine rebounds.

Crystal Langhorne had 23 points to lead Washington.

The Mystics, who trailed by as many as 16 in the third period, crept to within 71-69 on Katie Smith's 3-pointer with 6:13 left.

But Jones scored the next four points for the Sun, to push the lead back to six.

"Asjha wasn't going to let us lose," Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said.

Jones, who was Connecticut's leading scorer a season ago, has been slow to recover from an Achilles' tendon injury she sustained late last season.

"Coming into the game, I felt good," Jones said.

Kara Lawson had 11 points and seven assists for the Sun, including a driving layup with 48 seconds left to give Connecticut an 83-78 lead. Tan White, who made four late free throws, had 10 points.

"That's the kind of game that's going to happen a lot in the next few weeks," Thibault said. "It's that close in our conference."

Monique Currie had 18 for the Mystics and Marisa Coleman finished with 12, including three 3-pointers in the fourth period.

"Connecticut is a great team," Washington coach Julie Plank said. "They were hungry after some tough losses. Every game from here is going to be tough. I was glad we came back, but can't afford to get down by that much on the road in a playoff race."

The Sun shot 64 percent from 3-point range in the first half (7 of 11) and took a 43-31 halftime lead.

Montgomery's 3-pointer capped an 11-0 run early in the second period that snapped a 19-19 tie and gave the Sun a 30-19 lead.

Kerri Gardin, White and Montgomery made three consecutive 3-pointers in the first period to give the Sun a 17-10 lead.