Mohegan — Connecticut Sun head coach Anne Donovan wasn’t in a good mood in the first half of Wednesday’s game.

In fairness to Donovan, her team’s defense would’ve sent Pope Francis over the edge.

Odyssey Sims and the Tulsa Shock took turns mocking the Sun’s defense in the first half. It got so bad that one could actually hear the reserved Donovan in team huddles even with music blaring over the PA.

Connecticut underwent an astounding defensive makeover in the second half and snuffed out the Shock’s offense to win, 80-74, before 4,682 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Tulsa shot a robust 57.6-percent in the first half. That was only about 20-percent better than its average (38-percent).

Sims, the second overall pick in last year’s draft, scored 14 that half. Tulsa led at halftime, 48-41.

“Let me get into a player’s mind first,” Donovan said. “You’re playing against very athletic, quick guards that can shoot the three and go off the dribble. So when we changed our scheme on how we were guarding the ball screen, they were reluctant to come on board with it. That was my frustration, and once we got on board with it, we were able to stop the penetration.

“I get where they were coming from. They’re trying to guard the three; guard the dribble.”

Connecticut’s second-half effort and defensive execution was an extraordinary contrast to its first-half play. Tulsa shot just 28.1-percent, and Sims only scored a point.

It was kind of a drastic change.

“We had a game plan that we weren’t executing, so we changed it to something different, and the execution was still kind of poor, and (Donovan) was frustrated about it,” Sun Kelsey Bone said. “We did a very good job in the second half (following the game plan). We came out a little more focused.”

Alex Bentley said, “We just were not getting it done in the first half.”

Bentley scored a game-high 25 for Connecticut (12-10) and Bone added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Camille Little added three 3-pointers and Jasmine Thomas 8 points and 5 assists.

Rookie reserve center Elizabeth Williams missed the game due to a knee injury. Starting forward Alyssa Thomas injured her shoulder in the first quarter and didn't return. Donovan didn't know the status of either player going forward.

The win moved the fifth-place Sun within a game of — get this — second place in the Eastern Conference.

It gets wackier — the Indiana Fever (13-9), Washington Mystics (13-9) and Chicago Sky (14-10) are in a three-way tie for second place.

The New York Liberty (15-6) are in first place and play at Connecticut on Friday.

It was the 10th straight loss for Tulsa (10-14), which had its hot start derailed by injuries. Leading scorer Skylar Diggins (ACL injury) is out for the season, and All-Star Plenette Pierson didn’t play Wednesday after rolling her ankle at Tuesday’s practice.

Connecticut fell behind by as much as 10 points (35-25) with over 7 minutes left in the first half.

The Sun got on track to start the second half. Bentley and Little made back-to-back 3-pointers to cut their team’s deficit to 52-47.

Connecticut followed with a 14-4 run. Bone tied the game with a putback, and reserve Shekinna Stricklen made a 20-foot pull-up jumper in transition to give the Sun a 60-58 lead with 1 minute, 57 seconds left in the quarter.

Reserve Chelsea Gray and Bone added layups to push Connecticut’s advantage to 64-58.

“I thought we were scrappier and more intense defensively (in the second half),” Donovan said. “I am not saying we did not play hard in the first half, but we did get after it more in the second half.

“You saw a different level of intensity and accountability in the second half.”

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED