Mohegan — The Connecticut Sun were ew-wwww through three quarters on Tuesday night and trailed the Seattle Storm by 11 points.

Connecticut needed a spark.

Shekinna Stricklen lit the fuse.

A steal and defensive save by Stricklen highlighted a comeback in which the Sun blowtorched Seattle.

Courtney Williams scored 15 of her career-high 27 points as the Sun ran down the Storm, 84-71, before 7,853 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

"Strick, man, she gets out there and she brings the energy," Williams said. "Saving balls, going out-of-bounds (to save them), being that energy, and we feed off of her when she gets going like that."

Connecticut trailed the Storm by as much as 54-41 with two minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Sun opened the fourth quarter with an 18-2 run. They shot 78.6-percent (yes) that quarter and outscored Seattle, 33-9.

"That was an impressive fourth quarter," Connecticut head coach Curt Miller said. "I wasn't Positive Patty at that moment at the start of the fourth quarter, let's put it that way. I was more Negative Nancy on how tonight's outcome was going go be the way we played early. But they just stuck to it."

Sun Jonquel Jones said, “Last year we were in a lot of tough positions up-and-down the schedule where we could have pulled the game out, but were unable to finish. I think we had to look in the mirror and realize that we are a team that can play with anybody. We just had to have good fourth quarters. In this league it comes down to that, so I think we learned the hard way last season. But we learned.”

It was the 15th win in 19 games for Connecticut (16-9), which is third in the overall WNBA standings. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs, regardless of conference.

And now it can be talked about — the Sun's magic number is two to qualify for the playoffs and snap their four-year drought.

Williams opened the fourth quarter with a 20-foot jumper.

Moments later, Stricklen deflected a pass by the 3-point line on the Sun's side of the court, ran down the ball and flipped it to Rachel Banham as she ran into the television table.

Banham passed ahead to Williams for a layup to cut Connecticut's deficit to 62-55 with 8:28 left.

It might as well be the game-winner as the Sun scored 16 of the game's next 18 points.

"We defend," Williams said. "We talked to one another that now it's time to buckle up and defend because our offense stems of our defense."

Stricklen finished with a career-high five steals and five rebounds.

Banham's 19-foot jumper put Connecticut ahead to stay, 65-64, with 5:32 left in the game.

The Sun's fourth-quarter defense was even more ludicrous than their offense.

Seattle shot 43.6-percent through three quarters.

The Storm shot just 15-percent (3-of-20) in the fourth quarter.

"We told each other the fourth quarter is the only one that matters," Williams said, "and we went out there and we just defended."

Miller emphasized that his team keep pushing the tempo because Tuesday was the Storm's third straight road game in five days.

"When we got stops, we were able to get out and run and we really wore Seattle down," Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas said.

Williams' 15 fourth-quarter points were just one short of the franchise record set by Nykesha Sales against the Indiana Fever on Aug. 15, 2007.

"I just went into a zone," Williams said. "I think we all went into a zone."

"(Williams) got extremely hot," Seattle coach Jenny Boucek said. "I thought most of her shots were contested, and one of them our player said she even fouled her."

The Sun also won without All-Star point guard Jasmine Thomas (ankle) and reserve post Lynetta Kizer (back).

The Storm are 10-16 and tied with the Atlanta Dream for ninth place.

“We got cold at the wrong time," Storm Breanna Stewart said. "I think we came out in the first half and hit them. In the second half, you have to expect a run from a home team. We got good shots, we just didn’t make them.”

Jones had her 15th double-double of the season (20 points and 14 rebounds with three blocks and two steals) for Connecticut and Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Alex Bentley added 12 points.

"JJ (Jones) and Courtney came alive (in the fourth quarter)," Miller said. "We were missing some shots we were capable of making (through three quarters), but Courtney got going and then we just rode her. And it’s tiring chasing her around. She’s boundless (with) energy."

"JJ was a real factor. It may not say it on the stat sheet with necessarily blocks, but (Seattle) got into the paint, and she was disrupting finishes around the rim and altering shots all night long, even when she wasn’t getting blocks. Then it felt like she got every big defensive rebound when we needed one. So those young kids really were gritty tonight. Rachel’s line might not be impressive (two points, two assists), but we haven’t played Rachel Banham 19 minutes (this season), and she more than held her own.”

Stewart had scored 20-or-more points the last 12 games to tie Diana Taurasi's WNBA record.

Stewart, guarded mostly by Alyssa Thomas, missed 12 of 18 shots and had 17 points and six rebounds before fouling out late.

"My strength is my strong point," Thomas said. "I just try to be as physical as I can and know what plays they're calling and get to spots."

Sue Bird had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Seattle. It was also her WNBA-record 471st career start, passing Tina Thompson (470) for the record. 

Storm reserve Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 13 of her 15 in the second quarter. That included three straight 3-pointers to give Seattle a 36-29 lead with 2:53 remaining in the first half.

• Longtime UConn assistant coach Chris Dailey was honored at halftime with the Margo Dydek Award as the Sun's 2017 Woman of Inspiration. Dydek was a former Connecticut All-Star who died unexpectedly at the age of 37 in 2011. The award is given to an outstanding woman who has distinguished herself while positively impacting the local community.

n.griffen@theday.com