Jones scores 24 points, Gruda has 14 in Sun’s 82-71 win over Sparks

Jones scores 24 points to lead Sun past Sparks

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Asjha Jones scored a season high-tying 24 points, Sandrine Gruda had 14 and the Connecticut Sun beat the Los Angeles Sparks 82-71 on Tuesday night.

Erin Phillips added 11 points for the Sun (6-6), who snapped a two-game skid.

DeLisha Milton-Jones had 19 points to lead Los Angeles (4-8), which lost its second straight. Betty Lennox had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Tina Thompson had 11 points.

The Sparks’ Candace Parker, playing her fourth game since returning from maternity leave, finished with three points, two rebounds and two assists in nearly 21 minutes. After scoring eight points in each of her first two games, Parker has totaled five in the last two.

Los Angeles’ Lisa Leslie, voted as a starter for the WNBA All-Star game — her league-record eighth overall selection — at Mohegan Sun Arena on July 25, missed her seventh straight game due to a sprained right knee.

Connecticut stretched a 13-point halftime lead to 64-44 on Amber Holt’s 3-pointer with 3:48 to go in the third quarter.

After trailing by 20 in the third quarter, Los Angeles cut the deficit in half on Kristi Harrower’s layup with 4:16 left.

However, Jones followed with a 17-foot jumper to stretch the Sun’s lead back to 12.

Milton-Jones’ layup pulled the Sparks to 80-71 with 56 seconds left.

Phillips made a four-point play that snapped a 26-all tie in the second quarter, starting a 23-10 run that gave Connecticut a 49-36 lead at halftime.