Mohegan — If it’s not one thing, then it’s another for the Connecticut Sun.

Connecticut did just enough wrong in its previous two losses to lose on long, seemingly impossible 3-pointers at the buzzer.

The Sun never put themselves in position Friday night to lose on an inexplicable shot because they handled the ball like it was a venomous sea urchin and shot miserably.

Connecticut turned it over 22 times in a 78-65 loss to the WNBA-leading Seattle Storm before 7,908 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Jewell Loyd scored a season-high 31 points for the Storm (18-6).

If it’s not one thing, then it’s another.

“It starts to feel like that,” Sun guard Jasmine Thomas. “It can start to weigh on you. It takes a toll. That’s the battle. The battle is fighting that bad energy and still stay positive and stay together as a team.”

The Sun have fallen to 12-12. They could previously point to injuries, player absences and playing 13 of their first 19 games on the road as some of their biggest problems.

Connecticut’s biggest issue right now is itself. It’s got all of its players back and played four of its last five at home. The Sun have lost three of those five games.

They were good enough to beat the second-place Phoenix Mercury and defending champion Minnesota Lynx last weekend. They’ve since lost on a steal and shot from behind the halfcourt line (Tuesday’s 86-83 loss to the Atlanta Dream), and an inability to shoot and hold onto the ball.

“We held (Seattle) to 29 points in the first half,” Sun head coach Curt Miller said. “We outrebounded them (for the game) by 10 (38-28). They're under (nine) points of their average (87.7). And you feel terrible because it was just an offensively tough night for us.

“They turned us over way too much. On a night where we didn’t shoot it tremendously well with the exception of a real big game from Chiney (Ogwumike), we just didn’t have enough possessions because of all those turnovers.”

And don’t look now, but Connecticut now has just a one-game lead for eighth place over the surging Las Vegas Aces (11-13). The top eight teams make the playoffs.

The Sun were 7-1 on June 12. The Aces were 1-7.

Look at them now.

Loyd, who was voted an All-Star this week, scorched Connecticut as she made 11 of 15 shots. Fellow All-Star Sue Bird shot 7 of 13 for 17 points with five assists.

The rest of the Storm shot 11 of 40 (27.5 percent). Breanna Stewart, Seattle’s third All-Star and a leading contender for WNBA MVP, missed 8 of 11 shots and scored 10. She averaged a league-leading 22.9 points prior to Friday.

None of that mattered because the Sun couldn’t get out of their own way.

Take away Ogwumike and Connecticut had no offense. Its All-Star post made 9 of 14 shots for 21 points with 12 rebounds.

The rest of the Sun shot 33.3 percent (16 of 48) with no one else scoring in double figures.

“I thought defense early saved us because Connecticut did a great job of coming out and defending us very well,” Seattle head coach Dan Hughes said. “We did not get into the type of rhythm we like to play with until the second half.”

Stewart tied the game at 42 with two free throws and four minutes, 6 seconds left in the third quarter.

Courtney Williams shot an airball on the Sun’s next possession. She then carelessly fouled Loyd on a missed 3-pointer on the other end.

Loyd made all three free throws as Seattle never trailed again. Bird followed with a 3-pointer to extend the Storm’s lead to 48-42.

“The common denominator between Atlanta and Seattle is that they are both really athletic,” Miller said. “They are crazy more athletic than we are from spot-to-spot.

We just have to be able to execute against the athleticism that this league has.”

n.griffen@theday.com