2018 Connecticut Sun season

The 2018 WNBA season is the 20th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the WNBA. It is also the 16th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season tipped off on May 13.[1]

2018 Connecticut Sun season
CoachCurt Miller
ArenaMohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,626 per game
Results
Record21–13 (.618)
Place3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish4th seed, Lost in Second Round to Phoenix Mercury 86–96
Team Leaders
PointsChiney Ogwumike – 14.4 ppg
ReboundsAlyssa Thomas – 8.1 rpg
AssistsJasmine Thomas – 4.8 apg
Media
TelevisionNBC Sports Boston and WCCT-TV

The Sun got off to a strong start, going 3–0 in May. All three wins were at home. In June, the Sun started strong, winning their first 4 of 5. However, they lost 5 of their next 7 games to finish 6–6 on the month. That skid included a 1–4 road trip, where all losses came 4 of eventual top 5 playoff teams. Their up and down season continued into July, where the Sun were 5–6. July started with another tough road trip where the Sun went 1–3. From there the Sun couldn't get a streak going; losing 2 then winning 2 then losing 2 again. The Sun surged in August posting a 7–1 record, including going 6–0 at home. Their only loss came on the road to Chicago. The Sun finished 21–13, which earned them the 4th seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs. Their playoff run fell short when they lost at home in the second round 86–96. This was the Sun's only playoff game, as they earned a first round bye.

Transactions

WNBA Draft
See also: 2018 WNBA Draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 9 Lexie Brown  United States Duke
3 33 Mikayla Cowling  United States California

Trades/Roster Changes
Date Details
February 2, 2018 Acquired C Cayla George via trade from the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for 21st pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.[2]
February 7, 2018 Signed G Leticia Romero[3]
April 12, 2018 Sun receive Bria Holmes in exchange for 15th pick in 2018 WNBA Draft and a second round pick in 2019 WNBA draft.[4]
July 9, 2018 Sun receive Layshia Clarendon and a second round pick in 2019 WNBA draft in exchange for Alex Bentley.[5]

Current roster
Connecticut Sun roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 1 Banham, Rachel 5' 9" (1.75m) 168 lb (76kg) 07-15-1993 Minnesota 2
G 4 Brown, Lexie 5' 9" (1.75m) – 10-27-1994 Duke R
G 23 Clarendon, Layshia 5' 9" (1.75m) 158 lb (72kg) 05-02-1991 California 5
G 32 Holmes, Bria 6' 1" (1.85m) 170 lb (77kg) 04-19-1994 West Virginia 2
F 35 Jones, Jonquel 6' 6" (1.98m) 190 lb (86kg) 01-05-1994 George Washington 2
C 42 Jones, Brionna 6' 3" (1.91m) 230 lb (104kg) 12-18-1995 Maryland 1
G/F 44 Laney, Betnijah 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) 10-29-1993 Rutgers 2
F 13 Ogwumike, Chiney 6' 4" (1.93m) 173 lb (78kg) 03-22-1992 Stanford 2
G/F 40 Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) 07-30-1990 Tennessee 6
F 25 Thomas, Alyssa 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 04-12-1992 Maryland 4
G 5 Thomas, Jasmine 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 09-30-1989 Duke 7
F 33 Tuck, Morgan 6' 2" (1.88m) 200 lb (91kg) 04-30-1994 Connecticut 2
G 10 Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 136 lb (62kg) 05-11-1994 South Florida 2



East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LV • LA • MIN • PHO • SEA
Head coach
Curt Miller (Baldwin Wallace)
Assistant coaches
Brandi Poole
Steve Smith



Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

WNBA roster page

Game log

Preseason
2018 pre-season game log
May: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–0)
2018 pre-season schedule

Regular season
2018 game log
Total: 21–13 (Home: 13–4; Road: 8–9)
May: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–0)
June : 6–6 (Home: 2–1; Road: 4–5)
July : 5–6 (Home: 2–3; Road: 3–3)
August : 7–1 (Home: 6–0; Road: 1–1)
2018 season schedule

Playoffs
2018 playoff game log
Total: 0–1(Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0)
WNBA Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 August 23 Phoenix L 86–96 Williams (27) Williams (8) J. Jones (7) Mohegan Sun Arena
7,858		 0–1
2018 playoff schedule

Standings
# Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
1 Atlanta Dream (2)2311.676–13–410–712–4
2 Washington Mystics (3)2212.647112–510–712–4
3 Connecticut Sun (4)2113.618213–48–99–7
4 e – Chicago Sky1321.382107–106–116–10
5 e – New York Liberty727.206164–133–146–10
6 e – Indiana Fever628.176172–154–133–13
 
First round:
Single elimination
(Aug. 21)		Second round:
Single elimination
(Aug. 23)		Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(Aug. 26 – Sept. 4)		WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(Sept. 7 – Sept. 12)
 
              
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1
Seattle Storm 		3
 
 
5
Phoenix Mercury 		2
 
 
 
 
 
4
Connecticut Sun		86
 
 
 
5
Phoenix Mercury 		96
 
5
Phoenix Mercury		101
 
 
 
8
Dallas Wings		83
 
1
Seattle Storm 		3
 
 
 
3
Washington Mystics		 0
 
6
Los Angeles Sparks		75
 
 
 
7
Minnesota Lynx		 68
 
3
Washington Mystics		96
 
 
6
Los Angeles Sparks 		64
 
 
 
 
 
2
Atlanta Dream		 2
 
 
3
Washington Mystics		 3
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Semifinals
Team12345
1
Seattle Storm		9191668494
5
Phoenix Mercury		8787868684
Team12345
2
Atlanta Dream		8478817681
3
Washington Mystics		8775769786
WNBA Finals
Team123
1
Seattle Storm		897598
3
Washington Mystics		767382

Awards and honors
Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.
Alyssa Thomas WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week May 29, 2018 [6]
Chiney Ogwumike WNBA All-Star Selection July 17, 2018 [7]
Jonquel Jones WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week August 20, 2018 [8]
WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award August 23, 2018 [9]

Statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Regular season
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Chiney Ogwumike 31 31 25.5 .603 .500 .797 7.3 1.0 1.2 0.6 14.4
Jasmine Thomas 34 34 28.1 .398 .311 .855 3.3 4.8 1.1 0.2 12.9
Courtney Williams 30 29 27.1 .456 .377 .680 5.9 3.0 0.8 0.1 12.6
Jonquel Jones 34 16 20.5 .550 .467 .671 5.5 1.7 0.1 1.2 11.8
Alyssa Thomas 24 24 30.6 .464 .000 .547 8.1 4.2 1.2 0.4 10.3
Shekinna Stricklen 34 30 18.8 .430 .430 .857 2.3 0.5 0.6 0.1 6.6
Morgan Tuck 34 1 13.6 .473 .349 .826 2.3 0.5 0.4 0.1 5.9
Layshia Clarendon 15 0 15.9 .492 .000 .826 1.6 2.7 0.5 0.0 5.4
Rachel Banham 33 5 12.8 .414 .370 .868 0.9 1.5 0.5 0.1 5.2
Brionna Jones 27 0 9.0 .469 .000 .727 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 3.1
Betnijah Laney 29 0 9.3 .471 .111 .909 1.7 0.7 0.4 0.0 2.7
Lexie Brown 22 0 5.6 .273 .310 .571 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.0 1.7

References
  1. "2018 Connecticut Sun Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  2. "Phoenix sends Cayla George to Connecticut for 21st-overal pick in WNBA draft". sun.wnba.com. February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  3. "Romero Signs With Connecticut". sun.wnba.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  4. "Atlanta Dream Trade Bria Holmes to Connecticut Sun". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  5. "Dream Trade Layshia Clarendon, Draft Pick to Sun For Alex Bentley". dream.wnba.com. WNBA. July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  6. "Alyssa Thomas, Chelsea Gray Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  7. "2018 WNBA All-Stars Announced; Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker To Serve As Player-Captains". wnba.com. WNBA. July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  8. "Jones, Bonner Named Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  9. "Connecticut Sun's Jonquel Jones Named 2018 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
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