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Sky 85, Sun 80: If the Sun can't win a game like this....

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When you’re at the bottom of the standings, you’re looking for anything that will give you hope and/or confidence, and the Connecticut Sun found it in the first quarter Friday night in Chicago, racing to a double-digit lead and seemingly with a chance to bury the equally hapless Sky before halftime. That, of course, didn’t happen, as offensively challenged Chicago scored 32 points in the second quarter to get back into the game by halftime. After that, the Sun’s equally challenged offense was the more challenged of the two and veterans Skylar Diggins and Natasha Cloud made enough plays down the stretch to break Chicago’s five-game losing streak. Stop me if you’ve heard this before (please don’t stop reading, actually), but it’s another game the Sun could have won, and another one they didn’t. In the big picture, it’s not going to matter, as we’ve said a few times, the more ping pong balls they can get to draft JuJu Watkins, the better. But, especially knowing the team will be gone soon...
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Dream 91, Sun 75: Things looked great until they didn't

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There was a moment in the third quarter Tuesday night where you could believe the Connecticut Sun could challenge for a playoff berth, leading by five at Atlanta - a team that may not be the WNBA title favorites, but certainly one of them - late in the third quarter, and making it extremely difficult for the Dream to do anything on the offensive end. There was a good rotation, a set lineup that appeared to be their best that Rachid Meziane went to in big spots. The Sun still weren’t hitting three-pointers, but they didn’t need to, able to get to the rim, even against the largely bigger Dream. But then the offense went away. The Sun scored just 26 points in the second half, including a painful stretch to start the fourth quarter in which they failed to score in 10 straight possessions. Eventually, the resistance was broken and Atlanta won fairly easily in the end (sorry, Sun bettors), leaving another lopsided road loss. In a way, it was a very positive performance. Connecticut showed th...
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Sun 84, Sparks 81: The band is finally together (almost)

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There is an alternate universe where Saturday night’s game against Los Angeles in Hartford was a celebration of things to come. After all, the WNBA had recently announced that the heritage of Connecticut (“the basketball capital of the world”) and the need for a northeastern franchise led them to keep the Sun in the state and move full-time to Peoples Bank Arena starting in 2027. That’s not the way it went down, of course, the Sun are off to Houston, which will probably sting forever. But that’s in the future, at least. For one night, things were as they should be, kind of. While it wasn’t sold out (attendance for a non-marquee matchup for a lame duck franchise is always going to be tough), the old Hartford Civic Center was loud, the Sun played some exciting basketball, and eventually pulled out its second win of the campaign. Beating a middle of the pack team without its best player (Kelsey Plum) at home is not exactly a fast track to the playoffs, but Connecticut looked a lot more li...
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Fire 71, Sun 61: Better effort, but still nothing to show

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You could probably sum up the 2026 Connecticut Sun in one possession: Trailing 60-57 with under three minutes left Wednesday, Aneesah Morrow could not get a runner to go, but grabbed her own rebound (one of 8 offensive rebounds on the night). When she missed from short range a second time, Olivia Nelson-Ododa snagged the rebound and found a wide open Diamond Miller, who looked to tie the game, but missed from three. But Saniya Rivers swooped in, and kicked to Morrow, who was also wide open from behind the arc, however you know how it ended. The rest was downhill for the Sun, who finished (mercifully) its dreadful offensive road trip by shooting 1-for-21 from behind the arc. They at least battled all the way through and forced 19 turnovers, albeit against an expansion team, but it’s brutal right now on the offensive end, and although they’re been on the road for five games, they have played a favorable schedule and still sit at the bottom of the league. But even with everything going on...
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Valkyries 97, Sun 70: Natalie Nakase won Coach of the Year for a reason

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Probably keep this short and sweet to keep from repeating ourselves over and over. The Sun actually got off to a really good offensive start Monday at Golden State which was mildly surprising, but even though Connecticut was in the game early, there was no indication it was going to last. One thing that was striking was how much more organized Golden State was on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Valkyries were completely locked in, speeding the Sun up and forcing them into shots they didn’t want when they weren’t turning it over. At the other end, the Sun tried desperately to chase the Valkyries off the three-point line, only to give up several layups and then get buried from the three-point line anyway. Golden State has an identity, led by Natalie Nakase, who picked up a well-deserved Coach of the Year last season, and now should have the Valkyries as a sleeper for a WNBA title this season, and even if she doesn’t get it in 2026 or 2027, I’m not betting against it coming event...
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Storm 77, Sun 59: Do we fix the offense or defense first? Probably offense

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We’ve talked a lot about on-ball defense in these parts and it really wasn’t any better Friday night, as Seattle guards got to the rim at will against Charlisse Leger-Walker and Hailey Van Lith. (“We didn’t dictate,” Rachid Meziane said after the game. “We let them do whatever they want. Defense is first taking pride in one-on-one.”) But unfortunately there was a bigger issue at play, one that was huge last season with or without Leila Lacan, and that is shooting the ball. The Sun shot 37% from the field Friday (23-for-62), some of that due to hitting some shots with the game already decided, and went 4-for-17 from behind the arc. The offense, bereft of anyone that can score on their own (we do miss Marina Mabrey for that, even if her advanced stats were awful), looked completely lost.  Connecticut is actually not last in three-point percentage currently in the WNBA, sitting 12th at 28.6%, although it’s hard to expect Van Lith to keep up her 53.3% pace, the Sun do have some options...
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Sun 80, Storm 78: No idea how, but Sun are on the board in the win column

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If you looked up late at the Connecticut-Seattle game Wednesday night on the east coast, you might be rubbing your eyes. Nell Angloma and Reagan Beers were leading the way for the Sun? Aneesah Morrow was benched after six minutes? The bench scored 64 points and Saniya Rivers had just two? Ashlon Jackson - in her first WNBA game - was making huge plays down the stretch? It added up to the first Connecticut win of 2026, finally, a gutty 80-78 victory in Seattle that will not exactly scare anyone in the WNBA nor likely solve any long-term problems, but it’s sure better than losing. In the end, Angloma (who doesn’t turn 20 until next month) led the Sun in minutes, with Charlisse Leger-Walker (29), undrafted Beers (28), and Angloma (27, tied with Aaliyah Edwards) not far behind. Morrow - whose body language left more than a little to be desired - didn’t appear in the second half, and Rivers had just 13 minutes, two less than Ashlon Jackson, who was signed on a developmental contract two wee...
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