Mohegan — The Connecticut Sun have a bad case of “the yips” this summer.

The Sun have had an abundance of issues this WNBA season, but their free-throw shooting is the worst in the WNBA.

Connecticut must advantage of every opportunity to score this season given all its struggles. Instead, it has averaged just 70 percent from the foul line heading into Sunday's game against the Eastern Conference-leading New York Liberty (3 p.m. Madison Square Garden).

“You get the yips,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said. “Shooters get yips. We also, at times, are getting our poorer free-throw shooters to the line. Some of the people that are missing have not been career top (free throw) shooters, either. It all plays a part of it.”

Friday night's 98-92 overtime loss to the mighty Los Angeles Sparks was a template for how Connecticut (6-15) has undermined itself with poor shooting from the line.

Alyssa Thomas twice seized the moment for the Sun in the final 69 seconds of regulation. Twice, she drove to the basket against Candace Parker, the Sparks’ 6-foot-4 forward and candidate to win her third WNBA MVP this season. Twice, Thomas converted the layup and gave the Sun a one-point lead.

Thomas also had the chance to give Connecticut the lead again when she was fouled by Kristi Toliver with 10.7 seconds left. She made the first free throw to tie the game, but missed the second.

Asked if she had any answers for why Connecticut has struggled so much at the line, Thomas said, “I don’t know. It just has been. We definitely have to improve to win close games like this.”

Connecticut had made its first six free throws against Los Angeles when Shekinna Stricklen went to the line with 1:01 left in the third quarter. The Sun lead at that time, 69-62.

Stricklen missed both. She’s made a more-than-respectable 38.6 percent of her 3-pointers this season. She’s shot just 64.3 percent from the line.

Connecticut missed three of its last nine free throws.

“We compete every game, we fight every game,” Sun guard Alex Bentley said. “We could have pulled that one out so it is very frustrating.”

Los Angeles made 18 of 19 free throws. It didn’t miss until there were 10 seconds remaining in overtime leading 96-92.

Jasmine Thomas, Kelly Faris, Courtney Williams and Bentley have all shot 80 percent or better from the line. Everyone else is under 70 percent.

“It’s like a golf putter,” Miller said. “You get the yips, you almost start to think you’re going to miss instead of making it.”

Good free-throw shooting doesn’t always correlate into wins. There are 12 WNBA teams, and only Minnesota Lynx, Los Angeles and New York have winning records.

Los Angeles is ninth in free-throw shooting (78.6), followed by New York (77.4).

The Sun sure could have used one of their six missed free throws, though.

“We just have to work on executing and finishing games,” Bentley said.

n.griffen@theday.com