2020 Connecticut Sun season
The 2020 WNBA season is the 22nd season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It will also be the 18th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season will tip off on July 26, 2020, versus the Minnesota Lynx.[1]
2020 Connecticut Sun season | |
---|---|
Coach | Curt Miller |
Arena | Originally: Mohegan Sun Arena Rescheduled to: IMG Academy gymnasiums, Bradenton, Florida |
Attendance | 0 per game |
Results | |
Record | 10–12 (.455) |
Place | 2nd (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | 7th Seed, Lost in Semifinals to Las Vegas Aces 2–3 |
Team Leaders | |
Points | DeWanna Bonner – 19.7 ppg |
Rebounds | Alyssa Thomas – 9.0 rpg |
Assists | Alyssa Thomas – 4.8 rpg |
2021 season → |
This WNBA season was originally going to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[2] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league held a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, which started on July 24.[4][5]
The Sun's season started slowly when the team lost its first five games. They recovered to win four of their next five and were 4–7 at the season's halfway mark. The Sun won six of the next nine to secure a playoff spot with two games to go in the season. The Sun last the final two games of the season to finish 10–12. That earned them the seventh seed in the playoffs.
As the seventh seed, the Sun played in the First Round against the sixth seeded Chicago Sky. The Sun won the game 94–81 and advanced to the Second Round. There they faced off against the third seed Los Angeles Sparks. Again, they triumphed as underdogs, this time 73–59. The win saw them advance to the Semifinals, where they matched up against the first seed Las Vegas Aces. The Sun won games one and three of the best-of-five series, but could not close out games four or five, and lost the series 2–3 to end their season.
WNBA Draft
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 23 | Kaila Charles | ![]() |
Maryland |
3 | 35 | Juicy Landrum | ![]() |
Baylor |
Trades/Roster Changes
Date | Details | |
---|---|---|
February 10, 2020 | Re-signed F Jonquel Jones[6] | |
Traded F Morgan Tuck and Connecticut's 1st Round Draft Pick for Seattle's 1st Round Draft Pick[7] | ||
Re-signed F Natisha Hiedeman[8] | ||
February 11, 2020 | Traded the 7th and the 10th picks in the 2020 WNBA draft and one first round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft to Phoenix Mercury for F DeWanna Bonner.[9] | |
February 15, 2020 | Re-signed G Bria Holmes[10] | |
February 19, 2020 | Acquired G Briann January and a second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for Courtney Williams[11] | |
February 24, 2020 | Acquired F Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis in exchange for a second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[12] | |
February 25, 2020 | Acquired the Minnesota Lynx's 2nd round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for G Rachel Banham.[13] | |
Signed G Jazmon Gwathmey to Training Camp Contract[14] | ||
February 26, 2020 | Signed F Valeriane Ayayi to Training Camp Contract[15] | |
March 13, 2020 | Signed G Jacki Gemelos to Training Camp Contract[16] | |
March 14, 2020 | Signed F Megan Huff to Training Camp Contract[17] | |
June 22, 2020 | F Jonquel Jones opts to sit out of the 2020 season.[18] | |
June 23, 2020 | Signed F Beatrice Mompremier.[19] | |
June 25, 2020 | Signed G Jacki Gemelos on permanent contract.[20] |
Current roster
Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game log
Playoffs
2020 playoff game log Total: 4–3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round
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Second Round
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Semifinals
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2020 playoff schedule |
Standings
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 18 | 4 | .818 | – | 8–2 |
2 | x – Seattle Storm | 18 | 4 | .818 | – | 8–2 |
3 | x – Los Angeles Sparks | 15 | 7 | .682 | 3 | 5–5 |
4 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 8 | .636 | 4 | 4–6 |
5 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 13 | 9 | .591 | 5 | 4–6 |
6 | x – Chicago Sky | 12 | 10 | .545 | 6 | 6–4 |
7 | x – Connecticut Sun | 10 | 12 | .455 | 8 | 7–3 |
8 | x – Washington Mystics | 9 | 13 | .409 | 9 | 6–4 |
9 | e – Dallas Wings | 8 | 14 | .364 | 10 | 1–9 |
10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 7 | 15 | .318 | 11 | 5–5 |
11 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 16 | .273 | 12 | 4–6 |
12 | e – New York Liberty | 2 | 20 | .091 | 16 | 2–8 |
Notes
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoffs
- Home and Away records not shown, as all games played at a neutral location.
- Updated to include results from September 13, 2020
- Source
Playoffs
First round: Single elimination (September 15) | Second round: Single elimination (September 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) | |||||||||||
1 Las Vegas Aces | 3 | |||||||||||||
7 Connecticut Sun | 2 | |||||||||||||
4 Minnesota Lynx | 80 | |||||||||||||
5 Phoenix Mercury | 79 | |||||||||||||
5 Phoenix Mercury | 85 | |||||||||||||
8 Washington Mystics | 84 | |||||||||||||
1 Las Vegas Aces | 0 | |||||||||||||
2 Seattle Storm | 3 | |||||||||||||
6 Chicago Sky | 81 | |||||||||||||
7 Connecticut Sun | 94 | |||||||||||||
3 Los Angeles Sparks | 59 | |||||||||||||
7 Connecticut Sun | 73 | |||||||||||||
2 Seattle Storm | 3 | |||||||||||||
4 Minnesota Lynx | 0 | |||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
- Semifinals
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Las Vegas Aces | 62 | 83 | 68 | 84 | 66 |
7 Connecticut Sun | 87 | 75 | 77 | 75 | 63 |
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|
2 Seattle Storm | 88 | 89 | 92 |
4 Minnesota Lynx | 86 | 79 | 71 |
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---|---|---|---|
1 Las Vegas Aces | 80 | 91 | 59 |
2 Seattle Storm | 93 | 104 | 92 |
Statistics
Regular season
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DeWanna Bonner | 22 | 22 | 33.3 | 42.2 | 25.2 | 89.5 | 7.8 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 19.7 |
Alyssa Thomas | 21 | 21 | 32.8 | 50.0 | 0 | 68.6 | 9.0 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 15.5 |
Brionna Jones | 21 | 21 | 26.1 | 60.5 | 100 | 69.1 | 5.6 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 11.2 |
Jasmine Thomas | 19 | 19 | 25.5 | 40.4 | 33.3 | 91.3 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 10.2 |
Natisha Hiedeman | 22 | 4 | 18.5 | 35.4 | 35.9 | 70.0 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0 | 6.1 |
Kaila Charles | 21 | 7 | 17.9 | 41.2 | 36.7 | 71.0 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 5.4 |
Briann January | 13 | 10 | 23.3 | 29.3 | 36.7 | 83.3 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 5.0 |
Bria Holmes | 18 | 4 | 16.2 | 35.7 | 33.3 | 66.7 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 4.9 |
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | 16 | 0 | 10.3 | 29.7 | 25.5 | 57.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3.4 |
Essence Carson | 11 | 2 | 11.2 | 32.5 | 28.6 | 75.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 3.2 |
Theresa Plaisance | 13 | 0 | 6.9 | 37.9 | 29.4 | 83.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.5 |
Beatrice Mompremier | 21 | 0 | 8.9 | 42.6 | 0 | 44.4 | 3.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
Awards and honors
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
DeWanna Bonner | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | August 17, 2020 | [21] |
Alyssa Thomas | August 31, 2020 | [22] | |
DeWanna Bonner | September 8, 2020 | [23] | |
Alyssa Thomas | 1st Team All-Defense | September 29, 2020 | [24] |
DeWanna Bonner | All-WNBA Second Team | October 4, 2020 | [25] |
References
- "2020 Connecticut Sun Schedule". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
- "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "Jonquel Jones Returns to the Sun". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- "Seattle Completes Trade with Connecticut Acquires Morgan Tuck". storm.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- "Connecticut Signs Hiedeman". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- Metcalfe, Jeff (February 11, 2020). "Phoenix Mercury All-Star DeWanna Bonner traded to Connecticut Sun". azcentral.com. Arizona Republic. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- "Connecticut native and dynamic playmaker Bria Holmes re-signs with the Sun". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
- "Sun Acquire All-Star Briann January, 2021 draft pick as a part of a three-team trade". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- "Sun Acquire Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis from Seattle". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- "Minnesota Lynx Acquire Rachel Banham". lynx.wnba.com. WNBA. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- "Connecticut Signs Gwathmey". twitter.com/ConnecticutSun. Connecticut Sun. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- "Connecticut Signs Valeriane Ayayi". twitter.com/ConnecticutSun. Connecticut Sun. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- "Connecticut Signs Jacki Gemelos". twitter.com/ConnecticutSun. Connecticut Sun. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
- "Connecticut Signs Megan Huff". twitter.com/ConnecticutSun. Connecticut Sun. March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
- "Jones Opts out for 2020 Season". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- "Connecticut Welcomes Beatrice Mompremier". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
- "Jacki Gemelos Signs with the Sun". sun.wnba.com. WNBA. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- "Bonner, Collier Earn Players Of The Week Honors For Week 3". wnba.com. WNBA. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- "Thomas, Stewart Earn Player of the Week Honors For Week 5". wnba.com. WNBA. August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- "Diggins-Smith, Bonner Earn Player Of The Week Honors For Week 6". wnba.com. WNBA. September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- "A'ja Wilson And Candace Parker Unanimously Selected To 2020 All-WNBA First Team". wnba.com. WNBA. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.