Mohegan - Tan White didn't have much weight to lose on her lithe frame, yet Connecticut's veteran guard slimmed down even further for this season to help both her body and her team.

And then White broke a finger in practice after the third game of the season. She sat on the Sun bench for 10 games, helplessly watching the season spiral out of control.

White helped the Sun avoid hitting rock bottom Thursday night. She scored all 10 of her points in the second half as Connecticut rallied past the shorthanded (and gutsy) Indiana Fever, 70-64, before 4,971 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

"It felt so good just being out there," White said. "We kind of dug ourselves out of a hole. It felt good to grind it out and get this win."

The hole White referred to was a 52-36 deficit with one minute, 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

It was setting up to be the worst lost of the season for the Sun (5-12). They looked listless and lost for three quarters and couldn't make a shot. They were shooting 32.7 percent after three quarters, too.

Indiana, which has struggled with injuries even more than Connecticut this season, was thriving despite dressing only eight. It was missing five players - Tamika Catchings (personal reasons), Jessica Davenport (stress fracture in her left leg), Katie Douglas (back), Erin Phillips (right knee) and Jeanette Pohlen (torn left ACL).

The Fever still played like a defending WNBA champion, though. They closed the first half with an 11-0 run, concluding with back-to-back 3-pointers by Briann January and Shavonte Zellous.

January and Elena Larkins opened the second half with back-to-back baskets to push Indiana's advantage to 38-25.

So, yeah, it wasn't the way the Sun wanted to return from the All-Star break.

"It's a new season," reserve Mistie Bass said. "We came into the second half (of the season) with a new mindset that we have a chance to get in the playoffs and it's got to start today. And all of the sudden, you look up at the scoreboard and it's 52-36 (Indiana).

"All you can do is say, 'not again.' You've got to dig deep somewhere inside yourself and find a way as an individual to do as much as you can, and I thought like everyone did that and we came together."

The quintet of all-stars Tina Charles and Allison Hightower and reserves Kelly Faris, Bass and White led the Sun back. Charles had a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. Hightower added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

White scored eight during an 18-2 point run that tied the game. Her 3-pointer knotted the game at 54 with six minutes, 19 seconds remaining.

"I can still kind of feel it (the finger injury)," White said. "I'm a little rusty with it, but when you step in between the lines, you can't think about, the pain. You're all go or no go."

Bass scored eight of her 10 in the second half. Faris, fresh from a trip to the White House with her former UConn teammates to celebrate their NCAA championship, added to Connecticut's defensive effort.

"Mistie is a high-energy player," Sun coach Anne Donovan said. "She took advantage of mismatches, which we weren't able to do in other positions. Indiana went to switching almost everything, so a lot of times we ended up with a guard on a big and Mistie really took advantage of it.

"I really liked the energy of that group. In the first half we were a little flat, so that was very nice to see."

n.griffen@theday.com