Mohegan — Saturday night was one of many chances for the Connecticut Sun.

Connecticut had a chance to make a good first impression in its home opener. It had a chance to take advantage of the winless and hobbled Washington Mystics, which played Friday night at home. It had so-oooo many chances to put Washington away.

Mystics 84, Sun 76. Overtime.

Go figure.

"The tough teams always win close games," first-year Connecticut coach Curt Miller said.

Added guard Jasmine Thomas: "(The Mystics) played a great game considering their situation. ... We just weren't playing smart basketball."

The Sun (1-2) didn't shoot or defend well enough to win, but the most galling aspect of their loss was that they didn't use their heads.

Officials Eric Brewton, Tony Dawkins and Karleena Tobin made it crystal clear early that they were going to been seen and heard from too much Saturday night.

Connecticut had an astonishing 22-10 free throw attempt edge in the first half.

Washington figured out at halftime that the best way to win was drive the lane and wait for the officials to blow the whistle.

The Mystics played more aggressive after halftime and attempted 29 free throws the rest of the game. The Sun attempted just seven.

"The foul line was the big story," Miller said. "They made it a point coming out of halftime to ram it right at us, and they set the precedent in the third quarter. And then once it got to overtime, they immediately started out getting to the rim and we were a jump shooting team.

"We don't have a lot of guards other than Jas and Alyssa (Thomas), a little bit, who'll ram it at you."

Tayler Hill drew a foul 34 seconds into overtime and made both free throws.

The Sun missed three straight shots on their next possession.

Washington's Emma Meeseman got wide open going right-to-left for a layup with Hill finding her for the assist on their team's next possession.

The Sun cut it to 75-74 with the ball, but Kelsey Bone was called for a 3-second violation.

Tierra Ruffin-Pratt buried a 3-pointer on the other end for Washington.

Ball game.

"We have to do a better job of that," Connecticut's Alex Bentley said about driving the lane, "and I'm probably No. 1 on the list for not being aggressive enough and getting in the paint and to the rim. And the times that I did, I missed my layups. We just have to keep attacking."

Connecticut was fortunate to even get to overtime as former UConn star Stefanie Dolson missed the first of two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation that could've given Washington a 68-67 lead.

The Mystics (1-3) found a way to win without All-Star Ivory Latta (right knee surgery), Natasha Cloud (illness), LaToya Sanders (overseas). Ally Mallot (arm) and Ruffin-Pratt (ankle) both played hurt.

"We were the one doing the fouling in the first half," Washington head coach Mike Thibault said. "We were going to go back at them harder in the second half and make them have to play us, and I think that was the huge turning point."

Former UConn star Bria Hartley and Hill bedeviled the Sun at guard. Hill made 10 of her 11 free throws and scored a game-high 24 with seven assists.

Hartley had 16 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Alyssa Thomas scored a team-high 18 for the Sun and Jasmine Thomas had 13 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Bone had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Camille Little scored 11 off the bench.

Bentley had another tough shooting night as she missed 10 of her 13 shots and scored eight with six assists. She's shot 24-percent (12-of-50) in three games.

"We felt like we gave one away," Miller said, "but you got to play to the buzzer and we didn't get it done

n.griffen@theday.com