DeWanna Bonner looked great for a player of any age as the 35-year-old drained 41 points Thursday for the Connecticut Sun.
And after Bonner set the franchise single-game scoring record, teammate DiJonai Carrington made sure everyone knew it. In a tweet highlighting Bonner’s accomplishment, Carrington made a pointed reference to Sun draftee Alexis Morris’ tweets calling on WNBA veterans to “hang it up.”
Stunningly efficient shooting — 16-of-23 from the field, and 5-of-7 from 3-point range — helped Bonner achieve the scoring record in 32 minutes in the Sun’s 90-84 win against the previously undefeated Las Vegas Aces.
“To score 41 points here, I just love the organization so much,” Bonner said of scoring 41 points in front of a home crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena. “It’s changed my life.
“That locker room is probably one of the closest teams that I’ve been on in a very long time. When we come to work every day, we actually enjoy being around each other.”
The love from her teammates poured in after the win, in postgame interviews and on social media.
“Hang it up???” Carrington tweeted. “Yeaaaahhh aightttttt.”
41 points at 35???? On 16/23??? Hang it up??? Yeaaaahhh aightttttt.
— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) June 9, 2023
Carrington’s post calls back to a series of tweets from Morris, a 2023 second-round draft pick of the Sun who was cut from the team before the start of the season.
The 5-9 guard, who helped lead LSU to the 2023 NCAA championship, criticized WNBA veterans for remaining in the league too long and taking up roster spots in the since-deleted posts. She argued that if roster spots cannot be made available to the rookies, then teams should “cut the vets.” Just 15 of this year’s 36 draftees made opening day rosters.
“The vets gotta know when to cut the net, and pass the torch bro,” she wrote. “If you knocking at 35, hang it up and I mean WIRED HANGER ‘Hang it up.’”
Morris later apologized for her tweets, writing in an Instagram caption: “To the veterans of the WNBA, please accept my sincerest apologies. I never thought joining the W family would be easy, but now I understand just how hard it is to do that.
“My energy would have been better served directed toward league executives who have a say in expansion and other logistics. I look forward to celebrating your individual and collective careers and giving you all the flowers you deserve.”
