Mohegan — There was a moment — several moments actually — in the second quarter Friday night that illustrated why season tickets to the Connecticut Sun would be a wise investment for next season.

Courtney Williams (rookie) and Jonquel Jones (rookie) scored 18 of the Sun's 30 points. Jones even added a notable swat of Skylar Diggins' layup attempt that met with approval from the crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena. Rookies, rookies everywhere. And a sign — finally — of a future for the franchise.

"There was that almost a puff your chest out, 'how do you like our rookies now?' kind of moment in the quarter," Sun coach Curt Miller said after his team barbequed the Wings, 107-74, before 6,228 fans in their home finale.

The Sun (13-20) set a franchise record with 43 field goals and shot a crisp 63 percent.

Williams finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists, almost contributing to some giggles in the locker room, given that she was traded for Kelsey Bone. Jones had 11 points and six rebounds before fouling out.

"We have two really talented rookies in street clothes," Miller said, alluding to Morgan Tuck and Rachel Banham. "It's fun to think about the young pieces. We've got to develop them and put other pieces around them. We've got to get better, but there was that moment the fan base (realized) 'those are two rookies.'"

The Sun are 7-4 in their last 11 games and 10-8 over the last 18, a marked improvement over a dismal May and June.

"We're really excited we finished and made this arena a very hard place to beat us," Miller said. "A big thank you for our crowd for hanging in there with us. Hopefully, this will send them into the offseason like we are. Excited about the future."

Camille Little had 15 for the Sun, while Alex Bentley and Jasmine Thomas had 14 apiece. Chiney Ogwumike had 13 points and 13 rebounds and Asia Taylor, who took Tuck's place on the roster, had 10.

Theresa Plaisance led Dallas (11-23) with 22.

The Sun finish the season in Washington on Sunday.

"Certainly the playoffs were going to be gravy," Miller said. "We thought we had an outside chance but we didn't talk about it. We talked about culture. We talked about creating an atmosphere where we competed every night. Now we've got to move from the culture of competing to a culture of winning. ... A lot of things are heading in the right direction."

• Before the game, Sun officials announced the Tuck had successful surgery on Tuesday to repair cartilage damage in her left knee on Aug. 28 against the Dream in Atlanta. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Arciero at the UConn Health Center in Farmington and her rehabilitation will take approximately six months.

m.dimauro@theday.com