Mohegan — There comes a point when you run out of things to say. The Connecticut Sun are there right now. They played their ascots off Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. With nine players. Against Phoenix and its array of all-stars and Olympians. Phoenix, which was a 7.5-point favorite on the road.

And the Sun, with even a hint of good fortune, would have won. Should have won. But Phoenix’s Leilani Mitchell, all but wearing Sun guard Jasmine Thomas, made an off-balance 3 as time expired. Phoenix 81, Connecticut 80.

Another punch to the midsection of a team that’s been hit more times than Gerry Cooney. On the band plays.

“I don’t have anything to say,” Sun coach Anne Donovan said. “I feel like we left everything out there we could possibly leave out there. I think we deserved that win. Unfortunately, this is sports and you don’t get what you deserve a lot of times or what you work for. But this was one of those games where I felt like we did a lot of things right.”

They sure did. And with players who weren’t nearly as talented or experienced as what the Mercury, the defending WNBA champs, trotted out there. Once again, Connecticut’s effort was exemplary.

Let me just say that I have a poor track record under the category of suggesting who should coach the Sun. And so I say this with trepidation, but conviction: This game was the ultimate example of why Sun management should extend Donovan’s contract.

The players who brought the Sun to the brink of victory:

Jasmine Thomas (acquired by Donovan for a second-round draft choice no longer in the league).

Camille Little (acquired by Donovan in a trade that sent Renee Montgomery away).

Kelsey Bone (greatly improved under Donovan and matched Brittney Griner point for point).

This is not two years ago when there was mutiny from former players who were chafed at Mike Thibault’s ousting and created a toxic atmosphere. This is not last season when Chiney Ogwumike was a rare bright spot in another lost summer. This is about a woman who walked into a hailstorm here, upgraded the talent significantly and has her players as competitive as ever, despite the absurd gap in talent some nights.

Donovan is never going to be warm and fuzzy. She’s not going to gyrate and incite the fans arguing with officials. But what she’s done in her understated way is set up this organization to win. As soon as next year. That’s providing, of course, half the roster isn’t hurt again. But with a healthy group, the Sun will contend for the postseason. Hell, they did most of this year with their favorite piece of furniture being the training table.

Then there’s this: The No. 1 rule of dismissing a coach is knowing you have someone better waiting. I’m not sure that person exists right now. Not to mention it would be unfair to Donovan, who has endured much pain here, not to see this through.

Some fans, when they’re not wrapping themselves in the UConn flag, will point to her record: 35-61. Donovan didn’t ask for the dysfunction with which she was greeted here. She’s changed the roster. It’s just that circumstances have turned this summer into “meet the new loss, same as the old loss.”

“I can’t fault anybody. Looking out there, they’ve got (DeWanna) Bonner and (Candice) Dupree, perennial all-stars and Olympians,” Donovan said, not even mentioning Griner. “We’ve got some free agents guarding them and some people not normally out there. I have nothing but good things to say about the effort and how hard we played.”

Bone: “We’ve got to figure out a way to get it done with the nine (players). That’s all we have. We could talk about the future and say things are going to happen soon. But we’re still living in the right now. We talked before the game and said we have seven games left. We get hot and who knows? It’s a long shot, but still a shot. It hurts to be so close and still keep taking the Ls.”

I’m suspicious as to whether we’ll see Alex Bentley, Elizabeth Williams and Alyssa Thomas again this year. The Sun may be done winning for 2015. But this much we know: The effort will be there Saturday night here against New York. And the next day. And the next day. That’s because of Donovan and some savvy veterans she brought here.

The brass is nuts if they don’t extend her contract.

She deserves it.

She deserves better.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius