There were seconds left in the third quarter on Thursday night when Connecticut's Kaila Charles grabbed an offensive rebound in a crowd, scored on a putback, and was fouled.

Charles let out a shout of excitement and pumped her arms as she took a few steps towards the Sun bench which was celebrating.

It was the kind of play Connecticut wants to continue to see from Charles, a second-year wing.

The Sun have lost two in a row for the first time this WNBA season with Charles playing two of her best games of the year. She and the Sun play the Chicago Sky for the second time in three days on Saturday afternoon at Wintrust Arena (2 p.m., Ch. 3).

Connecticut is 8-4. The Sky (6-7) have won four straight.

Charles started for the first time this season in Thursday’s 81-75 loss to Chicago. She had 15 points and seven rebounds.

“I've been playing well, but we're not winning, so it really doesn't mean anything,” Charles said. “I really want us to win and get the ‘W.’ ”

Connecticut guard Jasmine Thomas said, “We want her playing confident at all times. We want her being aggressive. She is a strong, big guard for us, and you saw that on the defensive end, you saw it with the rebounds, you saw it with her aggressiveness getting to the rim. We want her to stay that way every time she’s on the floor.”

Charles came off the bench during Sunday’s 89-66 home loss to the defending champion Seattle Storm, the Sun’s first clunker of the year. She scored 14 in 16 minutes and added four rebounds.

“She struggled to get started this season,” Sun interim coach Brandi Poole said. “Kaila just brings us such good defense, and then she was able to get downhill (Thursday) and score. I think the Seattle game gave her the confidence that she needed. She’s making better decisions on the offensive end of the floor. (I’m) just really proud of her.”

Charles has played more minutes lately because starting post Jonquel Jones has missed the last two games while playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national team at the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket Tournament in France and Spain.

The tournament lasts until June 27. Jones will miss a minimum of two more games and as many as four if her team makes the final.

“The beginning of the season I wasn’t playing as much,” Charles said, “but I was always in the gym getting extra work in because I knew when JJ was going to be gone that it would give me opportunity on the floor, and I wanted to make the most of the minutes that I got so I could build trust with the coaches.

“I’ve played this game for most of my life. I know how to play this game, so stepping on the court, I have to carry myself like that.”

The Sun were ahead the majority of the first half in Thursday’s loss to the Sky. They led by as much as 40-31 just 1 minute, 35 seconds into the third quarter.

Chicago went on to shoot 50 percent in that quarter and ended it with a 59-55 lead it never relinquished.

Connecticut head coach Curt Miller missed the game as he's attending to a family matter.

• Jones had a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds as Bosnia and Herzegovina rallied past Turkey on Friday, 64-54, to improve to 2-0.

n.griffen@theday.com