Brittney Griner's 1st dunk of season, 29 points not enough vs. Sun

Sep 3, 2016, 12:13 am

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Chiney Ogwumike and the Connecticut Sun withstood Phoenix center Brittney Griner's first dunk of the season and career-high 29 points to beat the Mercury 87-74 on Friday night.

Ogwumike scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds, Jasmine Thomas had 18 points, and Alex Bentley added 16. The Sun (11-17) have won three of their past four games and snapped the Mercury's three-game win streak.

Griner's driving one-handed dunk, the eighth slam of her career, came off a no-look pass from Diana Taurasi to pull Phoenix (13-15) to 51-46 with 6:44 to play in the third quarter. But the Sun used a 9-0 run to help stretch their lead to 68-54 at the end the quarter.

University of Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma was in attendance to watch the Sun use a 24-3 run to build a 46-38 halftime lead. Connecticut has won eight of its past 12 games after starting the season 3-13.