First-year coach Stephanie White and the thriving Connecticut Sun will open the second half of the season on the road Tuesday night against the struggling Phoenix Mercury.

While empowering veteran players like DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas to make decisions on their own in a fast-paced offense, White has also insisted on Connecticut (15-5) playing tough defense. That’s resulted in a league-high 8.2 steals per game, many fueling the Sun’s potent transition game.

“The biggest thing about being a coach who really encourages player feedback, it’s like you know this is bigger than our coaching staff,” White said. “It’s about them and making them feel comfortable and confident in everything that we do and them having a voice that gives them ownership.”

White, Bonner and Thomas have returned from Saturday’s All-Star Game in Las Vegas, where White coached Team Stewart to a 143-127 rout of Team Wilson. Thomas is playing MVP-caliber ball, averaging 15.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game.

Meanwhile, Phoenix (4-15) is aiming to engineer a second-half turnaround under interim coach Nikki Blue. She took over when Vanessa Nygaard was canned after a 2-10 start but hasn’t yet been able to change the team’s sagging fortunes.

“We have all the pieces,” Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham said. “It’s just trying to get them to match at the right time.”

One of those pieces, center Brittney Griner, shined in the All-Star Game with 18 points, 13 rebounds and a first-quarter dunk. Griner, who missed the 2022 season while imprisoned in Russia, is averaging 19.5 points on 60.6 percent shooting from the field.

This is the first time this year the Sun and Mercury have met. Connecticut swept the season series 3-0 in 2022 with an average margin of victory of nearly 14 points.

Beginning with Tuesday’s contest, the Sun will play three of their next four games away from home, while Phoenix begins the second half with back-to-back home games ahead of a four-game road trip.

–Field Level Media