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Sun, Wings square off in matchup of surging teams (Jun 24, 2017)

Published Jun. 24, 2017 6:53 p.m. ET

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AP

Skylar Diggins-Smith and the Dallas Wings are playing their best basketball of the season. But Jonquel Jones and the Connecticut Sun have been even hotter.

Two of the league's resurgent teams square off Sunday as the Sun put a five-game winning streak on the line against the Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Connecticut (6-5) stumbled out of the gate with five losses in its first seven games, but has not been defeated since and even shocked the Lynx on Minnesota's home court on June 17.

It marks the Sun's longest winning streak since the team won seven in a row from June 7 to June 26, 2015.

Their latest victory did not come easily as Connecticut frittered away a 21-point lead but recovered in the final minute to beat the New York Liberty 94-89 on Friday night.

Courtney Williams' pull-up jumper with 54.3 seconds left broke an 86-all tie as the Sun closed out the game on an 8-3 run. Jasmine Thomas scored a career-high 23 points and Jones had 21 points and seven rebounds.

"We're definitely maturing. We're getting to where we want to be," Thomas said. "Earlier on in the season, we can't say that this game would have turned out like this."

Dallas has won three in a row and is coming off back-to-back victories against the winless San Antonio Stars, including an 81-69 win on Friday.

The Wings (7-8) trailed 62-58 with 7:28 to play but went ahead for good near the five-minute mark.

Diggins-Smith led the way with a season-high 30 points on a franchise-record seven 3-pointers.

"She was just shooting behind the screen and we weren't going out and meeting her, contesting or making her uncomfortable with the shot at all," San Antonio's Isabelle Harrison told the San Antonio Express-News of Diggins-Smith.

Diggins-Smith bumped her scoring average to 17.7 points, which ranks eighth in the WNBA. Dallas ranks fourth in the league in scoring (84.3 points per game) and Connecticut is third (86.3).

The Sun and Wings are meeting for the first time this season. The teams meet twice more on Aug. 12 and Aug. 23, with both games in Connecticut.

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