Mohegan — The Connecticut Sun were a good test of one’s personality after Thursday night’s loss.

The optimist’s view was that they played arguably their most consistent game of the young season against the unbeaten Los Angeles Sparks, who have laid waste to teams from Chicago to Washington.

The pessimist’s (and realist’s) view — a loss is a loss is a loss.

The Sun did better Thursday, but not enough to net them a win as the Sparks prevailed, 77-72, before 4,766 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

“We continue to be disappointed that we didn’t win,” Connecticut coach Curt Miller said, “but I have to say that there’s a different feeling in the locker room tonight because of how hard they played together and how much they stuck together through the adversity.

“I think there’s a little more hurt in our locker room tonight, which I think is a good thing.”

Asked if she were a glass half-empty or full person, Alex Bentley smiled and said, “Come on, man, (I’m) positive. (An) optimist. It’s still early. It’s so early. We’re four games in. This season is very long. We need to grow. We’re a brand new team. A brand new coach. A brand new staff. … Were getting better every night.”

Connecticut (1-3) never trailed in the first half and led by as much as 41-30 with three minutes, 16 seconds left in the second quarter.

Los Angeles (5-0), however, has the trio of Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike and Kristi Toliver.

Parker, no matter what USA Basketball thinks about her, was her usual nightmarish self. She made 8 of 13 shots for 22 points. That included three straight possessions where she drew an and-one. She also had four assists.

Ogwumike had 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds with four assists. Toliver, who has made a ludicrous 52.6 percent of her 3-pointers through four games, scored 10 with four assists.

Jasmine Thomas had 17 points and four assists and Bentley scored 14 for Connecticut, which shot under 40 percent again (37.1).

The Sun had a great opportunity to take advantage of Los Angeles when Parker went to the bench after her fourth foul with six minutes, 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

Los Angeles led, 53-47, when Parker sat. The Sparks led, 65-60, when Parker returned with over seven minutes left in the game.

Connecticut had a chance to tie in the game’s closing seconds. Alyssa Thomas made her first free throw to cut the Sun’s deficit to 75-72 with 24.7 seconds remaining. Thomas missed her second free throw, but Jasmine Thomas grabbed the offensive board.

Miller elected to let his team play on rather than call a timeout. Jasmine Thomas missed an open three with 8 seconds left.

“(I) almost called timeout,” Miller said about that possession. “When you can get a defensive team that is as long as L.A. set up (after calling timeout) and be ready to switch everything and be able to communicate, I took our chances. And sure enough, moving the ball one extra pass got a wide-open three (attempt).

“If we took timeout, there’s no way we would’ve gotten an open three. We rolled the dice and it just didn’t fall.”

Chiney Ogwumike had a team-high nine rebounds for Connecticut, and rookie Jonquel Jones had four rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot in six minutes off the bench.

“I liked our growth,” Miller said. “We could sit here. … and (say) ‘We’re a few possessions away from being 3-1 instead of 1-3,’ but we are what we are. We’re 1-3 and we’re going to just keep grinding until we get better.”

n.griffen@theday.com