Mohegan — Alyssa Thomas was about to attempt a layup during Sunday’s Connecticut Sun game when Sancho Lyttle of the Atlanta Dream leapt from behind to block her shot.

Lyttle ended up falling onto Thomas’ back and squashed her to the Mohegan Sun Arena floor.

There’s many other WNBA players one would rather fall atop them than the 6-foot-4, 175-pound Lyttle.

“That’s why there’s ice,” Thomas said. “Get iced up and recover and get ready for the next game.”

It was just another day in the WNBA life of Thomas, Connecticut's third-year small forward who gets pounded like a fullback. No one on the Sun takes a bigger beating nightly than her.

“She might get flattened,” the Sun's Chiney Ogwumike said, “but the next day at practice, she’s out there battling. That’s just her identity. That’s why I love playing with this team and Alyssa because she makes me want to be tougher.”

Basketball is a grind for everyone, but Thomas must grind more than others. She’ll guard Olympian Tamika Catchings when the Connecticut Sun play at the Indiana Fever on Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas covered Olympians Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx) and Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream) the previous two Sun games.

“Rough (stretch) for me, right?” Thomas quipped, “But you have to come and give the best effort every night.”

That’s easier said than done given what’s demanded of Thomas. She’s an oddity in that she has the height of a wing, but cannot shoot like one. She instead has to get her points around the rim.

Thomas, then, must zig-zag through screens chasing wings on defense. On offense, she’s driving the lane and getting banged around by larger posts (Thomas is generously listed as 6-foot-2).

“She’s our warrior,” Connecticut coach Curt Miller said. “She doesn’t get a lot of calls despite how physical she plays.”

Thomas is averaging 10.7 points this season and has a team-leading 5.6 rebounds for the Sun (5-14).

“When she gets a defensive rebound, we let her bring the ball down in transition,” Miller said. “When she gets a full head of steam going downhill, she’s like a locomotive. She’s hard to stop, and she’s a willing passer at the end of transition, also. I think that gives her extra looks at the offensive end.”

Thomas had had little luck getting to the foul line despite going so hard, so often, to the rim. She’s attempted 134 field goals with 109 being within five feet of the basket.

Thomas was tied with Atlanta’s Tiffany Hayes for the sixth-most shots taken within five feet of the basket through Sunday’s games, according to Minnesota Lynx statistician Paul Swanson.

Hayes has taken 113 free throws, Thomas 63.

“She takes a huge beating and I don’t think she’s sometimes rewarded for how hard she plays,” Ogwumike said. “She attacks the basket hard and she’s forced to finish because she’s the young one, not the vet.

“I think it’s making her a better player because she’s having to play through the adversity.”

Thomas isn’t a good free throw shooter (she’s made 65.1 percent of them this season), but she and her team would still like to see her get a few more calls. So often the smaller player gets the benefit of the doubt when checked by a larger one. That hasn’t been the case for Thomas.

“I’m going in there hard,” Thomas said. “I feel like I’m doing the same thing (others are) doing, but I guess I have to go even harder.

“I’ll just keep going in there and hope for a call.”

n.griffen@theday.com