Connecticut's Alex Bentley missed just three games while competing with Belarus at the FIBA EuroBasket Women's Tournament.

Three games might as well be three months in Sun time.

Connecticut (5-5) found a rotation that clicked while Bentley was out and won every game. It takes a four-game winning streak into Friday's game against the New York Liberty at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.).

Bentley's return poses a conundrum for Sun head coach Curt Miller — does he reinsert Bentley back into the starting lineup at shooting guard, or does he stick with second-year guard Courtney Williams?

"It doesn't seem like a long time," Curt Miller said of Bentley's absence, "but it's (17) days ago (since she left). We've added a bunch of things. We have to kind of show her on film, but also show her why and how, we're having success. We have to get her back up to speed.

"Alex is going to have to be a true professional throughout this and understand that there is something going on. There's a lot of chemistry. There's a lot of cohesiveness. And we have to phase her back into that and not try to upset what is working right now for us.

"Alex is going to play a lot of minutes. The luxury we have with Alex is that she can play the point or the two (off-guard) ... Alex will be the first one in and be able to take on either role."

Bentley has started in 96 of 100 games for Connecticut over four seasons. She's been one of its more consistent shooters, but struggled to start this season, perhaps because she missed the preseason to an ankle injury. She was 32.8 percent from the floor and averaging 8.4 points and 3.4 assists before she left.

"The girls have been doing really, really good; getting on a roll and getting on a run," Bentley said. "I love the basketball that we're playing."

Williams was playing better than Bentley. She's shot 60 percent during Connecticut's winning streak and averaged 19 points and seven rebounds.

Asked if she cared if she started or not, Bentley said, "No preferences. Like I said, we've been playing good ball. Whatever works for the team works for me."

Everyone reacts differently to changes in their role at work. Sports are unique because players want to play — they're not looking for a long lunch break or three-day weekend.

Some players prefer coming off the bench because they can get a better sense of how things are unfolding. Others dislike it. Kara Lawson, for instance, wasn't thrilled when Danielle McCray started ahead of her for most of the 2011 Sun season. Lawson averaged over 10 minutes more than McCray and was on the floor at the end when games were close, but she nonetheless preferred starting.

Miller hasn't been around many situations such as this.

"One of the reasons that I have this job was the success at the collegiate level," Miller said. "When we won eight straight regular season (MAC) championships (at Bowling Green), I never had a starter in those eight years have a serious injury. I didn't have to experience that a lot as a head coach throughout our success, that there's been a player who comes in and plays so well that you have to make a change. It's even more uncommon as I've mentored around the pro game. Pro starters just normally come back and start.

"(Alex) is an integral part of what we're doing, but we're going to phase her back in unlike what we tried to do coming out of training camp."

Starting power forward Morgan Tuck (knee contusion) will miss her sixth straight game for the Sun. Reserve post Lynetta Kizer will miss her fourth straight game to a bad back.

n.griffen@theday.com