• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Monarchs-Sun Preview

Jul 21, 2009 - 6:30 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Sacramento (3-13) at Connecticut (8-6), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Connecticut Sun are coming off a win over the team with the best record in the WNBA. They'll now try to avoid a letdown against the club with the worst mark before hosting the All-Star game.

The Sun look to extend their winning streak to a season-high four games Wednesday night when they host the lowly Sacramento Monarchs.

Connecticut (8-6) beat Eastern Conference-leading Indiana 67-61 on Sunday, ending the Fever's franchise-record 11-game winning streak.

"We wanted to protect our home court and play hard," said forward Asjha Jones, who will be Connecticut's lone representative at Saturday's All-Star game at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The Sun, 3-0 against West opponents, have won five of six at home after dropping their first two there. Their only loss in the last six at Connecticut came July 11, when they allowed a jumper with 6.3 seconds to go in overtime of a 79-77 defeat to Detroit.

Connecticut could use another strong effort from guard Lindsay Whalen, who has 27 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists over the last two games. That surge has come after she equaled her season low of five points in an 82-71 win over Los Angeles on July 14.

Whalen leads the team with 4.2 assists per game, and her 11.6 points a contest are second to Jones' 16.6.

She's also been a big part of the Sun's four wins in the last five meetings with the Monarchs (3-13), averaging 17.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

Connecticut swept the two-game season series last year, winning 87-64 at home.

Sacramento owns the worst record in the WNBA and doesn't have a player on the West All-Star team.

The club is looking to avoid matching its longest slide of the season after falling 69-65 to Detroit on Sunday for its fifth defeat in a row. It lost six straight from June 13-30 before recording consecutive wins.

The Monarchs have won just once in their last 13 road games dating to last season. They're 1-8 away from home this year.

Despite Sacramento's struggles, Nicole Powell is averaging a career-high 15.1 points while also pulling down 5.1 rebounds per game.

The 6-foot-2 forward, however, totaled seven points on 3-for-20 shooting while getting four rebounds in the two losses to the Sun last season.

Sacramento will visit New York on Thursday before closing out its three-game trip with a matchup against Washington on Sunday.