UNCASVILLE - Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane didn't hold back.
"I appreciated a lot of things last night. Tonight, I will say that I hated a lot of things: how we started the game without good energy, and we didn't respect ourselves," Meziane said. "I want to say skills, but we don't respect ourselves. So yeah, for me, the game was over at halftime."
Just 24 hours after the Sun played one of its better games of the season and defeated the Chicago Sky, it suffered one of its worst losses in terms of effort, falling 89-64 to Golden State at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Sure, the blowout was the second game of a back-to-back for Connecticut, yet the Sun's shortcomings went beyond exhaustion.
On Wednesday, the loudest cheers inside Mohegan Sun Arena were for the opposing team's former UConn women's basketball players. The next loudest roars came as a collective groan when a Sun player missed a pair of free throws.
Connecticut's "Golden Hour," as the franchise is calling its final stretch of games, has left much to be desired.
The Sun (10-28) are in second-to-last place in the league standings and were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs over two weeks ago. It doesn't help that star Leila Lacan left early for the World Cup, and a handful of other players have been in and out of the lineup due to injuries.
Without postseason aspirations and a relocation on the horizon, Meziane and his staff have switched the focus from winning to developing the team's younger players. The league's upcoming two-and-a-half-week break for the World Cup will not only give the Sun ample rest, but time to pour into its young stars as it looks to set up its future in Houston.
"We've known for a long time that we are not fighting for playoffs, a playoff spot," Meziane said.
The Sun lost control of Wednesday's game midway through the opening quarter. Golden State clicked and scored 11 unanswered points, including a steal-and-score from former Husky Kaitlyn Chen.
Golden State ended the first 10 minutes on an 18-4 run and led by as much as 17. No Sun player had more than four points as both Saniya Rivers and Charlisse Leger-Walker found themselves in early foul trouble.
While Leger-Walker was able to stay poised and lead the offense, the Sun went scoreless for the final four minutes of the second quarter and finished the first half just 9-of-33 from the floor. Not only was the 28-point halftime deficit too much to overcome, but the Sun's effort deteriorated further after intermission, allowing Golden State to lead by as much as 35.
Leger-Walker was the Sun's only bright spot as she led all players with a career-high 17 points, along with four assists and three rebounds. Rookie Nell Angloma was the only other Sun player in double digits with 11 points, two rebounds and a steal.
"Obviously, not having Leila here, she is such a big part of our team in terms of just what she brings both offensively and defensively on the ball," said Leger-Walker, who helped UCLA to the national championship in April. "... So, not having her there is definitely something that we need to try and fill that void a little bit. And I think everyone just has to step up in their own roles.
"And me, for sure, you know, taking on a bit more of the ball handling, primary ball-handling, and getting our offense structured, that's just something that I have to be ready for and step into."
Lacan leads the Sun with 4.6 assists per game and is second with 11.6 points per game. In her absence, Leger-Walker has risen to the occasion and taken the reins. She dished out seven assists (one short of her career high) on Tuesday against the Sky before her impressive output Wednesday.
"It was a good test for her, yesterday and tonight, to show how she can respond and how she can handle the situation playing without Leila," Meziane said. "... Offensively, she's taking more responsibility. That's something we are expecting from her, like to shoot the ball more and to be more like aggressive and sometimes to be a little bit more selfish instead of just organizing.
"She is finding this balance, you know, playing for herself and playing for her teammates, organizing, making the right play. I am impressed by her progression this year."
On Sunday, Connecticut will wrap up a stretch of seven games in 12 days. Four of those games were without Lacan and as of Wednesday, at least six have been without star veteran Brittney Griner.
Lacan, the Sun's starting point guard, left Connecticut on Sunday to join France's training camp ahead of the World Cup. Griner has missed six straight games with a left knee injury. Former Husky Aaliyah Edwards missed four with an ankle injury while Olivia Nelson-Ododa missed the last two with a knee injury.
Following Sunday's game at Dallas (8:30 p.m.), the Sun will take a two-and-a-half-week break for the FIBA World Cup. When they return Sept. 17 at Atlanta, they will have just four games left before relocating to Houston, including two at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Connecticut next plays Friday night at Indiana (7:30 p.m. on ION).
Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at Despite Leger-Walker's career-high 17, Sun fall to Golden State in final home game before Cup break.
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