2004 Connecticut Sun season

The 2004 WNBA season was their sixth season and their second in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the second consecutive season and were successful.

2004 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Mike Thibault
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	6,707 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost in WNBA Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Nykesha Sales (15.2)
Rebounds	Taj McW.-Franklin (7.2)
Assists	Lindsay Whalen (4.8)
← 2003 season 2005 season →

Offseason

Dispersal Draft

Based on the Sun's 2003 record, they would pick 8th in the Cleveland Rockers dispersal draft. However, the Sun traded the pick to the Houston Comets.

WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	4	Lindsay Whalen	United States	Minnesota
2	16	Jessica Brungo	United States	Penn State
2	24	Ugo Oha	United States	George Washington University
3	29	Candace Futrell	United States	Duquesne

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Transactions

• May 19: The Sun waived Courtney Colman.
• May 18: The Sun waived Anna Zimerle, Ugo Oha, and Anastasia Kostaki.
• May 12: The Sun waived Courtney Mix and Katie MacFarlane.
• May 10: The Sun waived Brina Chaney and Brianne Stepherson.
• May 4: The Sun waived Texlin Quinney, Jamila Wideman, and Isabel Stubbs.
• April 26: The Sun signed Brina Chaney, Katie MacFarlane, Le'Coe Willingham, Jennifer Derevjanik, Courtney Mix, and Texlin Quinney.
• April 20: The Sun waived Adrienne Johnson.
• April 19: The Sun waived Jamila Wideman.
• April 16: The Sun signed Isabel Stubbs.
• April 9: The Sun signed Wendy Palmer-Daniel, Brianne Stepherson, Anna Zimerle, and Anastasia Kostaki.
• March 25: The Sun acquired Asjha Jones from the Washington Mystics. The Washington Mystics acquired Tamicha Jackson from the Phoenix Mercury. The Phoenix Mercury acquired the 8th pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft from the Sun.
• January 28: The Sun traded Shannon Johnson and their 21st and 34th picks in the 2004 WNBA Draft to the Silver Stars in exchange for San Antonio's 4th, 16th, 29th picks in the 2004 WNBA Draft.
• January 5: The Sun traded the eighth pick in the 2004 WNBA Dispersal Draft to the Houston Comets in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2004 collegiate draft.

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Roster

2004 Connecticut Sun roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight From G 24 Black, Debbie 5' 3" (1.6m) 124 lb (56kg) Saint Joseph's F 22 Brungo, Jessica 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) Penn State G 34 Derevjanik, Jennifer 5' 10" (1.78m) 140 lb (64kg) George Mason G/F 32 Douglas, Katie 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) Purdue G 12 Futrell, Candace 5' 10" (1.78m) 154 lb (70kg) Duquesne F 15 Jones, Asjha 6' 2" (1.88m) 196 lb (89kg) Connecticut F/C 11 McWilliams-Franklin, Taj (C) 6' 2" (1.88m) 184 lb (83kg) St. Edward's College F 3 Palmer-Daniel, Wendy 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) Virginia G/F 42 Sales, Nykesha (C) 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) Connecticut G 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5' 8" (1.73m) 150 lb (68kg) Minnesota F 43 Willingham, Le'Coe 6' 0" (1.83m) 200 lb (91kg) Auburn F 21 Wyckoff, Brooke  6' 1" (1.85m) 183 lb (83kg) Florida State	Head coach Mike Thibault (Saint Martin's) Assistant coaches Scott Hawk (Nebraska-Omaha) Bernadette Mattox (Georgia) Athletic trainer Jen Brodeur Strength and conditioning coach Lisa Ciaravella (Lynn) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Connecticut Sun x	18	16	.529	–	10–7	8–9	14–6
New York Liberty x	18	16	.529	–	11–6	7–10	10–10
Detroit Shock x	17	17	.500	1.0	8–9	9–8	11–9
Washington Mystics x	17	17	.500	1.0	11–6	6–11	9–11
Charlotte Sting o	16	18	.471	2.0	10–7	6–11	8–12
Indiana Fever o	15	19	.441	3.0	10–7	5–12	8–12

Schedule

Preseason

2004 Game Log: Preseason Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 1 May 8 Chinese National Team L 85-87 Derevjanik (13) Coleman (9) () Mohegan Sun Arena 0-1 2 May 11 @ Houston L 71-84 Douglas, Sales (13) Coleman (6) () Toyota Center 0-2 3 May 13 Los Angeles L 51-77 Sales (12) McWilliams-Franklin (7) () Mohegan Sun Arena 0-3

Regular season

2004 Game Log: Regular Season
May Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 1 May 22 Phoenix L 58-65 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 0-1 2 May 25 Houston L 57-68 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 0-2 3 May 27 Los Angeles W 82-73 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 1-2
June Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 4 June 3 Charlotte W 71-62 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 2-2 5 June 4 @ Washington W 72-63 () () () MCI Center 3-2 6 June 6 Detroit L 73-74 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 3-3 7 June 9 @ Phoenix L 59-75 () () () America West Arena 3-4 8 June 11 @ Seattle L 63-68 () () () KeyArena 3-5 9 June 12 @ Sacramento W 83-76 () () () ARCO Arena 4-5 10 June 14 @ Los Angeles L 74-76 (OT) () () () Staples Center 4-6 11 June 18 Charlotte L 58-63 (OT) () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 4-7 12 June 20 Washington W 75-65 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 5-7 13 June 22 @ Indiana W 63-58 () () () Conseco Fieldhouse 6-7 14 June 25 Detroit W 71-67 (OT) () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 7-7 15 June 27 @ Detroit W 74-72 () () () Palace of Auburn Hills 8-7 16 June 30 Washington W 78-69 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 9-7
July Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 17 July 6 Indiana W 79-67 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 10-7 18 July 9 Sacramento L 70-85 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 10-8 19 July 11 @ Indiana W 65-61 () () () Conseco Fieldhouse 11-8 20 July 14 @ Minnesota L 63-66 () () () Target Center 11-9 21 July 15 @ San Antonio L 67-78 () () () SBC Center 11-10 22 July 17 @ Houston L 56-72 () () () Toyota Center 11-11 23 July 21 @ Detroit W 78-68 () () () Palace of Auburn Hills 12-11 24 July 22 Minnesota L 52-68 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 12-12 25 July 24 San Antonio W 69-55 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 13-12 26 July 30 @ Washington L 68-69 () () () MCI Center 13-13 27 July 31 @ New York L 66-80 () () () Madison Square Garden 13-14
September Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record Summer Olympic break 28 September 1 @ Charlotte L 55-62 () () () Charlotte Coliseum 13-15 29 September 3 New York W 61-43 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 14-15 30 September 10 @ New York W 77-66 () () () Madison Square Garden 15-15 31 September 12 Seattle W 71-64 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 16-15 32 September 15 @ Charlotte W 81-67 () () () Charlotte Coliseum 17-15 33 September 17 New York L 66-69 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 17-16 34 September 19 Indiana W 80-60 () () () Mohegan Sun Arena 18-16

Playoffs

See also: 2004 WNBA Finals

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Washington Mystics. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Washington, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun lost the first game, but won the next two to advance to the next round. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the New York Liberty. The Sun and the Liberty had identical records and each team had won two of the four meetings against each other in the regular season. The Sun attained home-court advantage however, because they beat the Liberty by more than the Liberty beat them. The series would be played with game 1 at New York and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun swept the Liberty and game 3 was not needed. The Sun advanced to the WNBA Finals. The team would be facing off against the Seattle Storm. The Storm had the better record so the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut, and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Seattle. This was the last year the league played the finals in a best-of-three setup. The Storm beat the Sun 2 games to 1 to win the WNBA Finals.

2004 Game Log: Postseason
Eastern Conference Semifinals Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 September 25 @ Washington L 59-67 Whalen (16) McWilliams-Franklin (9) Douglas (4) MCI Center 13,263 0-1 2 September 27 Washington W 80-70 Whalen (21) Sales (7) Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,760 1-1 3 September 29 Washington W 76-56 Sales (18) McWilliams-Franklin (11) Douglas, Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,514 2-1
Eastern Conference Finals Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 October 1 @ New York W 61-51 Sales (15) McWilliams-Franklin, Palmer-Daniel (10) Whalen (5) Madison Square Garden 12,146 1-0 2 October 3 New York W 60-57 McWilliams-Franklin (18) McWilliams-Franklin (9) Douglas (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,734 2-0
WNBA Finals Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 October 8 Seattle W 68-64 Douglas (18) Sales (9) Whalen (9) Mohegan Sun Arena 9,518 (sellout) 1-0 2 October 10 @ Seattle L 65-67 Sales (32) McWilliams-Franklin (7) Whalen (7) KeyArena 17,072 (sellout) 1-1 3 October 12 @ Seattle L 60-74 Sales (18) Douglas (6) Douglas, Whalen, McWilliams-Franklin (2) KeyArena 17,072 (sellout) 1-2

Depth

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Inactive
C	Taj McWilliams-Franklin	Le'Coe Willingham		Brooke Wyckoff
PF	Wendy Palmer-Daniel	Asjha Jones	Le'Coe Willingham
SF	Nykesha Sales	Jessica Brungo	Candace Futrell
SG	Katie Douglas	Jennifer Derevjanik
PG	Lindsay Whalen	Debbie Black

Player stats

• http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2004/

Awards and honors

• Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales, and Lindsay Whalen were named to the WNBA All-Star team.
• Nykesha Sales was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
• Wendy Palmer-Daniel was named the Most Improved Player.
• Nykesha Sales was given the Off Season Community Assist Award.
• Nykesha Sales was named the WNBA Player of the Week for the week of June 27, 2004.