Mohegan – All together now ... Rocky Top, you'll always be, home sweet home to me, good ol' Rocky Top ...

Sorry. Couldn't resist. It's just that the 6,157 fans who left Mohegan Sun Arena happy Friday night might have come to see Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, the former UConn great now in witness protection for the Seattle Storm. And instead they had to leave channeling their inner orange, in salute of Shekinna Stricklen, the Tennessee kid who bailed out the team from Connecticut.

Stricklen took a bat to the Storm, her old team, scoring a team-high 15 points, including the eventual game-winning rebound basket with 8.2 seconds remaining. The Sun coughed and wheezed their way to a 67-66 victory, their offense a clockwork orange in the closing minute, thanks to Stricklen, who scored the Sun's last five points.

What a trade. Camille Little and Stricklen to Connecticut for Renee Montgomery and the third pick in the draft, which turned out to be Mosqueda-Lewis. The Sun have their conscience (Little) and hottest offensive player (Stricklen, who is 21-46 from 3-point range in the last two weeks). Meanwhile, the Storm liked Montgomery so much they traded her. And Mosqueda-Lewis absorbed her seventh "DNP-CD" of the season in the boxscore Friday night. That stands for "did not play, coach's decision."

It wasn't a trade. It was a heist. Like when the Goodfellas ripped off Lufthansa.

"I had so much confidence in Camille," said Sun coach Anne Donovan, who orchestrated the trade. "We all knew what she could do from the intangible standpoint and freeing up (Kelsey) Bone inside. Stricklen's a player where every year we play Seattle, she's always been that player when you're scouting them, you think, 'she's dangerous.' We needed a three-point shooter. It was an easy trade to make. We had been waiting for Strick to show up. She's living in a good zone right now."

She was living in Korea when she learned of the trade here. She would become the second Tennessee player to cross into enemy lines, joining Kara Lawson.

"I was in South Korea and I got a call at 3:30 in the morning," Stricklen said. "I heard 'you've been traded and it'll be announced in an hour.' I wasn't around when Tennessee and UConn had the big rivalry. I never did get to play UConn in my college days."

It's doubtful most of the fans who watched this game had any idea that Stricklen was playing her old team. Nah. Not a sexy enough storyline. At least not in provincial Connecticut, where they awaited Mosqueda-Lewis' return. Except that she didn't play. She doesn't. And for a team that entered averaging 69.7 points per game, the second lowest in the WNBA. Translation: Seattle needs offense. Mosqueda-Lewis could score in college. She can't in the pros. If she could, Seattle coach Jenny Boucek would play her.

The best we got Friday was Mosqueda-Lewis saying this is "a process" and Boucek saying the No. 3 overall pick in the draft is "progressing."

And to think some wanted to fry Donovan for giving up the third pick in the draft. This is not Donovan's first rodeo. She knew No. 3 picks in past drafts were Kayla McBride, Skylar Diggins, Courtney Vandersloot, Kristi Tolliver and Cheryl Ford. And that there was no way Mosqueda-Lewis was close to that level. She's not ready athletically for the WNBA, especially not playing a perimeter position.

So Donovan made the trade. Oh, the humanity. Giving up Montgomery and Mosqueda-Lewis, two UConn kids? Except that this trade qualified under the category of "well, duh" outside our state lines. Little has been terrific and Stricklen, with Alex Bentley struggling, has saved the season.

"I've been yelling at (Stricklen) for years," Little said. "For her not to be complacent. Not to relax. Sometimes, I catch her relaxing. Make it hard every possession to guard you."

Stricklen made a 3-pointer with the Sun down 66-62, 43 seconds left. She made the game winner with 8.2 seconds left. She was hard to guard there.

And so now the Sun are 9-8. Modest? Sure. But improved. They haven't been over .500 this late in the season since 2012.

"I had my hair colored the other day and I might need to go back," Donovan said, alluding to the Sun's penchant to take the path of most resistance. "But I'm happy to have my 6-8 head above water."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius