UNCASVILLE, Conn. - Sandrine Gruda had 14 assists and Lindsay Whalen had 11 points and seven assists Thursday night as the Connecticut Sun defeated the Seattle Storm 64-53.
Whalen became the 10th player in the WNBA history to each 900 career assists.
The Sun (12-10) won, despite shooting 38 percent (23 for 60) from the field. They held Seattle to 30 percent shooting (17 for 56).
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"That was like a playoff defensive game," Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said. "I don't think we were pretty offensively and they probably weren't happy with what they did. We made them work for everything they did. And we had to work for ours."
Lauren Jackson finished with 12 points before fouling out late in the fourth period. Jackson, who shot 3-for-16 from the field, is one point shy of 5,000 in her career.
Amber Holt scored five straight points in the third quarter for the Sun in a 19-8 run that gave Connecticut a 55-44 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
"It seems like ever since the finals in 2004, we've had very intense games with Seattle," Whalen said. "Beating them is big, with all the good players they have."
Seattle never got closer than 10 in the fourth.
"We didn't shoot the ball very well and we turned it over too much," Seattle coach Brian Agler said. "Connecticut outplayed us."
Tanisha Wright had 13 points for Seattle and Camille Little and Tanisha Wright had 12 apiece.
Asjha Jones had six points and 10 rebounds for Connecticut.
Anete Jekabsone-Zogota made her second 3-point field goal of the first half to give Connecticut a 36-24 lead. Seattle scored the last six points of the half to trail 36-30 at halftime.
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