The San Antonio Stars have not had much luck in their first season without Becky Hammon. Injuries, a new young team and winless on the road has meant a poor season for the usually bright Stars. On Tuesday, their road game took another sour turn.
Jia Perkins finished with 15 points, but the Stars fell 82-51 to the Connecticut Sun in front of 4,490 fans inside Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday night. The loss was San Antonio’s third straight.
Sophia Young-Malcolm was the only other Star in double figures with 10 points. Danielle Robinson added six for San Antonio, who remain winless on the road on the season.
After leading by seven at halftime, Connecticut’s defense allowed just six San Antonio points in the third quarter. The Sun outscored the Stars 45-21 in the second half, including 18-6 in the third quarter.
“We didn’t play well, but give Connecticut credit,” Stars head coach Dan Hughes said. “I thought they were very physical and I thought in the second quarter we had a chance to roll back in, but in the third quarter they just took it away from us. They were quicker to balls, they physically battled better than we did and we didn’t respond. Our bench play wasn’t what we needed to supplement.”
San Antonio lost by 30+ points for the second time in four days. On Friday, they fell 88-53 to the Washington Mystics at Freeman Coliseum.
“It seemed like the whole game was tough for us,” Perkins said. “They are a strong team, they are physical and if you don’t match their physicality you don’t have a chance. That was one of our downfalls today, we didn’t match their physicality and we backed down and they took over.”
Kelsey Bone led the Sun with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assist. Alex Bentley and Alyssa Thomas had 10 points apiece for Connecticut (10-9), who earned their biggest win of the season.
The Sun opened the fourth quarter on a 13-3 run and allowed the Stars just three points through the first four minutes of the final quarter. The win was the 200th for head coach Anne Donovan.
“It means I have coached a lot of games and it means I have been fortunate enough to coach a lot of great players,” Donovan said of win No. 200. “I have been with some great organizations, crossed pass with special people, and made numerous lasting relationships. That is what you value most about this business is the relationships and that is what it means to me to win 200 games.”
The Stars are now 6-15 on the season and will return to the court tomorrow night when they travel to Washington to face the Mystics at 6 p.m. inside the Verizon Center.
