The Connecticut Sun have a busy week ahead as they'll play four games, beginning Sunday at home against the Atlanta Dream (Mohegan Sun Arena, 6 p.m., MyTV9).

Connecticut desperately hopes this week is better than the last.

Too much went wrong for the Sun (12-13) both inside and outside of their organization as they fell deeper into a hole in the Eastern Conference. They're in fifth place with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs.

Connecticut went into last week without starting forward Alyssa Thomas (shoulder sprain) and reserve rookie center Elizabeth Williams (knee contusion) after both were injured two weeks ago. Both will be reevaluated next week.

The Sun blew an early 14-point lead at the Atlanta Dream last Sunday and lost (90-77). Post Kayla Pedersen, one of their most valuable reserves, was concussed during that game and didn't play in Friday's game at the Tulsa Shock. She's listed as day-to-day.

All-star guard Alex Bentley injured her right ankle seven minutes into Friday's game. She didn't return and Connecticut lost in overtime (84-76). She's also listed as day-to-day.

The East's other contenders pulled away from Connecticut last week, too. The league-leading New York Liberty (18-7) won twice and is six games ahead of the Sun. Both have nine games left in the regular season.

The second-place Indiana Fever (16-9) won all three of their games on the West Coast. They lead the Sun by four games in the standings and five mathematically as they won the season series to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The third-place Washington Mystics (15-10) had two huge back-to-back wins over Western Conference leader Minnesota Lynx (77-69, and 79-61). They're three games ahead of Connecticut in the standings and four mathematically as they won the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Chicago Sky (16-11) used a late 3-pointer to beat Washington on Friday (87-85), tying them for third. The Sky beat the Sun in two of three meetings with two games left.

Connecticut also has the worst conference record (4-11), yet another drag on its playoff chances.

Atlanta (9-16) lost to New York on Friday, 78-67. It has lost eight of its last 10 games.

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED