2023 Connecticut Sun season

2023 Connecticut Sun season
2023 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Stephanie White
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	6,244 per game
Results
Record	27–13 (.675)
Place	2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	3rd seed, Lost in Semifinals 1–3 to New York
Team Leaders
Points	DeWanna Bonner – 17.4 ppg
Rebounds	Alyssa Thomas – 9.9 rpg
Assists	Alyssa Thomas – 7.9 apg
	← 2022 season 2024 season →

The 2023 Connecticut Sun season was the 25th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was the 21st season for the franchise in Connecticut after relocating from Orlando.

Quick facts Connecticut Sun season, Coach ...

On November 22, 2022, the Sun announced that Stephanie White would be the new head coach for the franchise, after Curt Miller left for the same job with Los Angeles. White previously coached in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever, while most recently coaching for the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team.^[1]

The season started well for the Sun as they won their first three games of the year, including two in a row against Washington. They would lose their next game to New York, but would win the final game of the month to finish May 4–1. They started off June by winning four of their first five games and they would finish by winning four of six games. The end of the month also included a four game winning streak. The Sun finished June 8–3. July opened with a loss to Las Vegas but then the sun went on a three-game winning streak. A loss to Phoenix broke that streak, but the Sun followed it up with another three game winning streak. They lost the final game of the month to finish 6–3 in July. They won three games to open August, but followed that streak by losing three games. They ended their three game losing streak on August 20 with a win over Chicago and that win clinched the Sun a playoff berth. They ended the month winning three of four games to finish with a 7–4 August record. The Sun entered September having clinched their playoff berth and being safely in the third seed. The finished the season 2–2 including a final day loss. They finished the regular season with a 27–13 record and were the third seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs. Their twenty-seven wins were the most in franchise history.

As the third seed in the Playoffs Connecticut would host the first two games of a three game series against the sixth seed Minnesota Lynx. Game one started out as a tight affair but Connecticut broke away in the second and fourth quarters to win the first game 90–60. Game two was a closer affair, with the Lynx leading by five points at halftime. Connecticut couldn't break into their lead after the half and eventually lost 75–82. In game three, in Minnesota, the Sun dominated the first half, leading by fifteen at halftime. The Lynx couldn't close the gap, as the second half ended tied. The Sun won the game 90–75 and the series two games to one. The Sun advanced to the semifinals to face-off against the second seed New York Liberty. In the first game of the series Connecticut used a strong second half to win 78–63. In game two, the Sun won the first quarter but the Liberty won the other three quarters and the Sun lost 77–84. Games three and four moved to Connecticut. Homecourt didn't help the Sun in game 3 of the series, as they lost 81–92. In a must-win game four the Sun kept the game close, but ultimately came up short 84–87. The Sun lost the semifinal series one game to three to end their season.

[1]

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
2	22	Alexis Morris	United States	LSU
3	34	Ashten Prechtel	United States	Stanford

Date	Details
October 21, 2022	Head coach Curt Miller resigns and takes job with the Los Angeles Sparks^[2]
November 21, 2022	Hired Stephanie White as Head Coach^[3]
November 29, 2022	Hired Darius Taylor as General Manager^[4]
November 29, 2022	Promoted Morgan Tuck to Assistant General Manager
December 27, 2022	Hired Abi Olajuwon as an Assistant Coach ^[5]
January 3, 2023	Hired Briann January as Assistant Coach^[6]
January 11, 2023	Extended Qualifying Offers to Natisha Hiedeman and Joyner Holmes^[7]
January 16, 2023	Traded Jonquel Jones to the New York Liberty as part of a 3-Team Trade. Connecticut received Rebecca Allen and the 6th Overall Pick in the 2023 WNBA draft from New York and Tyasha Harris from the Dallas Wings.^[8]
January 16, 2023	Traded Jasmine Thomas and the 10th Overall Pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Jasmine Walker, and Kianna Smith^[9]
January 19, 2023	Cored Brionna Jones^[10]
February 1, 2023	Signed Joyner Holmes to a Qualifying Offer - Training Camp Contract^[11]
February 3, 2023	Signed Natisha Hiedeman to a 2-Year Deal^[12]
February 3, 2023	Signed Mikiah Herbert Harrigan to a Training Camp Contract^[13]
February 7, 2023	Signed Kristine Anigwe and Lauren Cox to Training Camp Contracts^[14]
February 9, 2023	Traded the 6th Overall Pick in the 2023 WNBA draft to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Tiffany Hayes^[15]
February 10, 2023	Signed Kiki Smith to a Rookie Scale Contract
February 13, 2023	Signed Brionna Jones to a 1-Year Deal^[16]
February 15, 2023	Signed Tiffany Hayes to a 1-Year Deal^[17]
	Signed Victoria Macaulay to a Training Camp Contract^[18]
	Waived Jasmine Walker^[19]
February 16, 2023	Waived Kristine Anigwe^[20]
February 17, 2023	Signed Nirra Fields to a Training Camp Contract^[21]
February 21, 2023	Waived Joyner Holmes^[22]
April 12, 2023	Signed Ashten Prechtal to a Rookie Scale Contract
April 12, 2023	Signed Khaalia Hillsman, Caitlin Bickle, and Jayla Everett to Training Camp Contracts^[23]
April 15, 2023	Waived Nirra Fields
April 18, 2023	Signed Alexis Morris to a Rookie Scale Contract
April 27, 2023	Signed Lasha Petree to a Training Camp Contract^[24]
April 30, 2023	Waived Lasha Petree^[25]
April 30, 2023	Signed Diamond Battles to a Training Camp Contract^[26]
May 3, 2023	Waived Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, Khaalia Hillsman, and Kiara Smith^[27]
May 5, 2023	Waived Victoria Macaulay^[28]
May 9, 2023	Exercised 4th-Year Team Option on DiJonai Carrington^[29]
May 10, 2023	Waived Alexis Morris, Diamond Battles, and Ashten Prechtel^[30]
May 15, 2023	Signed Tyasha Harris to a Contract Extension^[31]
May 16, 2023	Waived Caitlin Bickle, Nia Clouden, and Jayla Everett^[32]^[33]^[34]
May 16, 2023	Traded a 2025 Third-Round Pick to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Leigha Brown^[35]
June 1, 2023	Waived Lauren Cox^[36]
June 3, 2023	Signed Liz Dixon^[37]
July 14, 2023	Waived Liz Dixon^[38]
July 17, 2023	Signed Kristine Anigwe to a 7-Day Contract^[39]
July 26, 2023	Signed Bernadett Határ^[40]
August 18, 2023	Signed Kristine Anigwe to a 2nd 7-Day Contract^[41]

Pos.	Starter	Bench
PG	Natisha Hiedeman	Tyasha Harris
SG	Tiffany Hayes	DiJonai Carrington
SF	Rebecca Allen	Leigha Brown
PF	DeWanna Bonner	Olivia Nelson-Ododa
C	Alyssa Thomas	Bernadett Határ Brionna Jones

#	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.	Home	Road	Cup
1	x – Las Vegas Aces	34	6	.850	–	18–2	19–1	15–5	9–1
2	x – New York Liberty	32	8	.800	2	16–4	15–5	17–3	7–3
3	x – Connecticut Sun	27	13	.675	7	14–6	13–7	14–6	7–3
4	x – Dallas Wings	22	18	.550	12	11–9	11–9	11–9	6–4
5	x – Atlanta Dream	19	21	.475	15	11–9	11–9	8–12	6–4
6	x – Minnesota Lynx	19	21	.475	15	12–8	9–11	10–10	5–5
7	x – Washington Mystics	19	21	.475	15	9–11	12–8	7–13	5–5
8	x – Chicago Sky	18	22	.450	16	5–15	7–13	11–9	3–7
9	e – Los Angeles Sparks	17	23	.425	17	9–11	10–10	7–13	5–5
10	e – Indiana Fever	13	27	.325	21	5–15	6–14	7–13	2–8
11	e – Seattle Storm	11	29	.275	23	8–12	4–16	7–13	4–6
12	e – Phoenix Mercury	9	31	.225	25	2–18	8–12	1–19	1–9

First round Best-of-3			Semifinals Best-of-5			Finals Best-of-5

1	Las Vegas Aces	2

8	Chicago Sky	0
			1	Las Vegas Aces	3

			4	Dallas Wings	0
4	Dallas Wings	2

5	Atlanta Dream	0
						1	Las Vegas Aces	3

						2	New York Liberty	1
2	New York Liberty	2

7	Washington Mystics	0
			2	New York Liberty	3

			3	Connecticut Sun	1
3	Connecticut Sun	2

6	Minnesota Lynx	1

2023 Connecticut Sun season

Transactions

WNBA draft

Transactions

Roster Changes

Additions

Subtractions

Roster

Depth Chart

Schedule

Preseason

Regular season

Playoffs

Standings

Playoffs

Statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

Wikiwand - on

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

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
DeWanna Bonner	40	40	30.1	.425	.329	.862	5.6	2.2	1.1	0.6	17.4
Brionna Jones	13	13	31.7	.571	.500	.776	8.2	2.4	1.8	0.5	15.9
Alyssa Thomas	40	40	36.2	.474	.000	.715	9.9	7.9	1.8	0.5	15.5
Tiffany Hayes	40	40	27.1	.476	.366	.778	3.0	2.6	0.9	0.1	12.1
Natisha Hiedeman	40	40	26.7	.392	.366	.739	2.1	2.7	0.9	0.1	8.5
DiJonai Carrington	32	0	17.2	.417	.371	.757	2.9	1.3	0.6	0.1	8.3
Rebecca Allen	40	27	21.5	.408	.348	.704	2.8	0.9	0.9	1.3	6.4
Tyasha Harris	40	0	16.7	.416	.464	.680	0.9	1.7	0.7	0.1	5.8
Olivia Nelson-Ododa	39	0	15.0	.537	.000	.708	3.7	0.6	0.5	0.8	4.5
Bernadett Határ^≠	6	0	7.8	.375	.000	.000	1.5	0.2	0.7	0.3	2.0
Liz Dixon^‡	4	0	5.3	.400	.000	.000	0.5	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.0
Leigha Brown	25	0	5.2	.308	.100	.667	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.8
Kristine Anigwe^‡	3	0	2.0	.000	.000	.000	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Lauren Cox^‡	1	0	0.0	.000	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
DeWanna Bonner	7	7	36.9	.385	.365	.774	8.3	3.4	1.0	1.6	18.1
Alyssa Thomas	7	7	38.9	.500	.000	.630	8.0	10.3	1.7	0.3	18.1
Tiffany Hayes	7	7	26.1	.527	.484	.875	3.4	1.6	0.6	0.3	14.3
Rebecca Allen	6	6	30.8	.489	.423	1.00	5.5	1.7	1.5	1.5	9.7
Tyasha Harris	7	0	21.9	.462	.542	.800	1.0	2.4	0.7	0.0	9.3
Natisha Hiedeman	7	7	22.0	.310	.316	.750	1.9	2.3	0.1	0.1	5.4
DiJonai Carrington	6	0	13.7	.464	.250	.600	2.3	0.5	0.7	0.0	5.0
Olivia Nelson-Ododa	7	1	15.4	.667	.000	1.00	3.4	0.6	1.0	0.9	4.3
Leigha Brown	2	0	3.0	.000	.000	.000	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0