Mohegan — The Connecticut Sun had a hot start and finish to Thursday night's WNBA game against the Los Angeles Sparks.

In between, however, the Sun went from one extreme to another before emerging with an 89-77 victory over the Sparks before 5,496 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The good — the Sun started fast and led the Los Angeles by as much as 21 points in the third quarter.

The bad — Connecticut let the Sparks back in the game in the fourth quarter, namely Nneka Ogwumike. She made four 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes to help cut the Sun’s lead to 81-77 with 1 minute, 16 seconds remaining.

Alyssa Thomas made a layup with 34.8 seconds left to stop Connecticut’s meltdown. Jasmine Thomas added two free throws and two consecutive steals for layups to account for the game’s final points.

“They’ll be the first to tell you that we weren’t perfect,” Connecticut head coach Curt Miller said about his players. “We made some defensive assignment mistakes. We made some mistakes on offense. Seventeen turnovers is a tie (this season) for us.

“They’re playing so hard right now. That starting group, this is their fourth year together, (and they're) finding ways to win with their defense.”

The Sun scored 25 on 23 Los Angeles’ turnovers.

Another positive was how the Sun defended Chelsea Gray. She made 1 of 6 shots for four points with six assists and eight turnovers.

Gray scored 16 in the Sparks’ 77-70 win over Connecticut on May 31.

“She’s one of the premiere point guards in the league,” Miller said. “That is a team effort, but Jas (Jasmine Thomas) gets that assignment a lot and you saw tonight why she is an All-Defensive team performer.”

Alyssa Thomas, playing on a very sore hip, had 11 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Sun (4-1), who avenged last week's loss to the Sparks in Los Angeles. Jasmine Thomas added 17 points and six steals, four in the first quarter alone.

The rest of Connecticut's starting lineup also scored in double figures. Jonquel Jones had 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, Courtney Williams had 15 points and six rebounds, and Shekinna Stricklen scored 10.

Nneka Ogwumike had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks (2-2). Her sister, Chiney, scored 19 in her first game back to Connecticut since demanding a trade to Los Angeles during the offseason.

The Ogwumikes combined to made 17 of 22 shots and accounted for the Sparks’ last 21 points.

Los Angeles was once again without three players — two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker (hamstring), two-time reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard (left leg), and Russian center Maria Vadeeva (overseas commitments).

The Sun led by as much as 64-43 with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter.

Connecticut was ahead 73-56 with 7:14 remaining in the game when the Ogwumike sisters led Los Angeles back.

Nneka Ogwumike made four straight open 3-pointers as the Sparks’ closed to within 81-75 with 2 minutes left.

“Hats off to Nneka,” Miller said. “If you told us going into the game our congestion (in the lane) was going to give up that (3-point attempts by Ogwumike) then some of the penetration by Chelsea Gray, we would’ve taken it. But Nneka is a former MVP of the league for a reason. She keeps expanding her game.”

Chiney Oguwmike made a transition layup after a Stricklen turnover to cut the Sun's lead to 81-77 with 1:16 to play.

Williams slipped while dribbling in the lane coming out of a Connecticut timeout for a turnover, but the Sun caught a break as Los Angeles lost control of the ball on the other end.

Alyssa Thomas got the ball late in Connecticut’s next possession and leaned in just enough for a layup to give her team an 83-77 edge with 34.8 remaining.

“It started (the decline) at the end of the third,” Jones said. “We weren’t taking care of the basketball. … They started hitting shots with our rotations.

“Them making shots and us turning over the ball is just a bad recipe for them to get back into the game.”

The Sun went on a 16-2 early in the game thanks to defense, in particular Jasmine Thomas. She had steals on back-to-back Los Angeles’ possessions to set up transition layups for Stricklen and herself.

Rachel Banham followed with a layup as Connecticut went ahead 16-6 with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

n.griffen@theday.com