2017 Connecticut Sun season

2017 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Curt Miller
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	6,728 per game
Results
Record	21–13 (.618)
Place	2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost in Second Round to Phoenix
Team Leaders
Points	Jonquel Jones 15.4 ppg
Rebounds	Jonquel Jones 11.9 rpg
Assists	Alyssa Thomas 4.5 apg
Media
Television	NBC Sports Boston and WCCT-TV
← 2016 season 2018 season →

The 2017 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the WNBA. It was the 15th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season tipped off on May 13.[1] The Sun started the season slowly, posting a 1–5 record in May. However, they quickly turned this around going a combined 13–4 in June and July. A 7–2 record in August saw the Sun near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The Sun finished in second place in the East, just one game back of the New York Liberty after going 0–2 in their final games in September. The Sun earned the 4th seed in the WNBA Playoffs, and a bye into the second round. In the Second Round, they lost to the Phoenix Mercury.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2017 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	8	Brionna Jones	United States	Maryland
2	13	Shayla Cooper	United States	Maryland
2	16	Leticia Romero	Spain	Florida State
3	28	Jessica January	United States	DePaul

Roster

2017 Connecticut Sun roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F/C 11 Adams, Danielle 6' 1" (1.85m) 239 lb (108kg) 1989-02-19 Texas A&M 5 G 1 Banham, Rachel 5' 9" (1.75m) 168 lb (76kg) 1993-07-15 Minnesota 2 G 20 Bentley, Alex 5' 7" (1.7m) 152 lb (69kg) 1990-10-27 Penn State 4 F/C 35 Jones, Jonquel 6' 6" (1.98m) 190 lb (86kg) 1994-01-05 George Washington 1 F 42 Jones, Brionna 6' 3" (1.91m) 230 lb (104kg) 1995-12-18 Maryland R C 12 Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m) 230 lb (104kg) 1990-04-04 Maryland 5 F 13 Ogwumike, Chiney  6' 3" (1.91m) 174 lb (79kg) 1992-03-22 Stanford 2 F 7 Pedersen, Kayla 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) 1989-04-14 Stanford 5 G/F 40 Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) 1990-07-30 Tennessee 5 F 25 Thomas, Alyssa 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 1992-04-12 Maryland 3 G 5 Thomas, Jasmine 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 1989-09-30 Duke 6 F 33 Tuck, Morgan 6' 2" (1.88m) 200 lb (91kg) 1994-04-30 Connecticut 1 G 10 Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 136 lb (62kg) 1994-05-11 South Florida 1	Head coach Curt Miller (Baldwin Wallace) Assistant coaches Nicki Collen (Marquette) Steve Smith Athletic trainer Jeremy Norman (Keene State) Strength and conditioning coach Tim Yuhas (Connecticut) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Preseason

2017 pre-season game log
May: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 2 Chicago W 81–72 Adams (12) Jones (7) Hightower (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 2,782 1–0 2 May 3 Los Angeles W 79–62 Thomas (10) Gray (6) Banham (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 2,809 2–0 3 May 7 New York Liberty W 79–57 Tuck (20) Jones (6) Thomas (4) Columbia University 388 3–0
2017 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2017 game log Total: 18-16 (Home: 12–5; Road: 9–6)
May: 1–5 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 13 Atlanta L 74–81 Tuck (21) Jones (20) 2 Tied (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,444 0–1 2 May 20 Indiana L 79–81 Jones (19) Jones (12) Jones (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,385 0–2 3 May 23 Minnesota L 78–80 Thomas (18) Tuck (10) 2 Tied (6) Xcel Energy Center 8,033 0–3 4 May 26 Minnesota L 68–82 Kizer (12) 2 Tied (5) Thomas (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,333 0–4 5 May 28 Chicago W 97–79 Jones (23) Jones (21) Thomas (5) Allstate Arena 4,498 1–4 6 May 31 Washington L 76–78 Stricklen (20) Jones (13) Thomas (6) Verizon Center 5,393 1–5
June : 6–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 3–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 7 June 3 San Antonio W 85–77 Williams (23) Jones (14) Thomas (7) AT&T Center 7,128 2–5 8 June 10 Atlanta W 104–71 Jones (20) Jones (15) Thomas (11) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,327 3–5 9 June 14 New York W 96–76 Williams (22) Jones (12) Thomas (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 4,818 4–5 10 June 17 Minnesota W 98–93 2 Tied (20) 2 Tied (8) Thomas (8) Xcel Energy Center 10,121 5–5 11 June 23 New York W 94–89 Thomas (23) Thomas (8) Thomas (8) Madison Square Garden 10,240 6–5 12 June 25 Dallas L 82–96 Thomas (19) Jones (12) Thomas (6) College Park Center 3,408 6–6 13 June 27 Los Angeles L 79–87 Thomas (19) Jones (17) 3 Tied (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,899 6–7 14 June 29 Seattle W 96–89 Thomas (29) Jones (10) Thomas (9) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,668 7–7
July : 7–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 July 1 Indiana W 91–85 Jones (29) Jones (15) Thomas (8) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,473 8–7 16 July 5 San Antonio W 89–56 Williams (17) 2 Tied (8) Thomas (8) AT&T Center 3,210 9–7 17 July 8 Washington W 96–92 Jones (22) Jones (9) Thomas (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,073 10–7 18 July 12 Seattle W 83–79 Stricklen (21) Jones (12) Thomas (6) KeyArena 10,833 11–7 19 July 13 Los Angeles L 77–87 Jones (20) Jones (9) Thomas (6) Staples Center 9,918 11–8 20 July 16 San Antonio W 89–75 Williams (15) Thomas (9) Bentley (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,355 12–8 21 July 19 New York L 80–96 Jones (14) Jones (10) Williams (4) Madison Square Garden 17,443 12–9 22 July 25 Chicago W 93–72 Thomas (20) Jones (10) Thomas (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,631 13–9 23 July 30 Indiana W 89–73 Thomas (15) Jones (13) Thomas (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,145 14–9
August : 7–2 (Home: 5–2; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 24 August 4 Phoenix W 93–92 Jones (19) Jones (15) 3 Tied (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,331 15–9 25 August 8 Seattle W 84–71 Jones (20) Jones (14) 2 Tied (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,853 16–9 26 August 12 2017 Dallas Wings season W 96–88 Thomas (21) Jones (16) Bentley (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,898 17–9 27 August 15 Atlanta W 96–75 Jones (20) Jones (13) Thomas (6) McCamish Pavilion 4,585 18–9 28 August 18 New York L 70–82 Thomas (15) Jones (9) Thomas (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,016 18–10 29 August 20 Phoenix W 94–66 Jones (20) Thomas (12) Thomas (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,353 19–10 30 August 23 Dallas W 93–87 Thomas (23) Jones (17) 2 Tied (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,465 20–10 31 August 25 Chicago L 83–96 Thomas (14) Jones (11) Thomas (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,761 20–11 32 August 29 Washington W 86–76 Thomas (26) Jones (22) Jones (6) Capital One Arena 10,953 21–11
September : 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 33 September 1 Phoenix L 66–86 Thomas (19) Jones (9) Thomas (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 9,971 21–12 34 September 3 Los Angeles L 70–81 Williams (19) Jones (10) 2 Tied (4) Staples Center 12,236 21–13
2017 season schedule

Playoffs

2017 playoff game log
WNBA Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 10 Phoenix L 83-88 Thomas (20) Jones (15) Thomas (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,420 0-1
2017 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Eastern Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	New York Liberty - (3)	22	12	.647	-	13–4	9–8	10–6
2	Connecticut Sun - (4)	21	13	.636	1	12–5	9–6	10–6
3	Washington Mystics - (6)	18	16	.529	4	11–6	7–10	12-4
4	Chicago Sky - e	12	22	.353	10	4–13	8–9	6–10
5	Atlanta Dream - e	12	22	.353	10	9–8	3–14	5–11
6	Indiana Fever - e	9	25	.265	13	6–11	3–14	4–12

Playoffs

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6)					Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10)					Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17)							WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4)
											2	Los Angeles Sparks	79	86	89
						4	Connecticut Sun	83			5	Phoenix Mercury	66	72	87
	5	Phoenix Mercury	79			5	Phoenix Mercury	88										1	Minnesota Lynx	84	70	64	80	85
	8	Seattle Storm	69															2	Los Angeles Sparks	85	68	75	69	76
											1	Minnesota Lynx	101	93	81
						3	New York Liberty	68			6	Washington Mystics	81	83	70
	6	Washington Mystics	86			6	Washington Mystics	82
	7	Dallas Wings	76

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

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Jonquel Jones	Player of the Week award	June 18, 2017	[2]
Alyssa Thomas	Player of the Week award	June 25, 2017	[3]
Jasmine Thomas	Player of the Week award	July 2, 2017	[4]
Alyssa Thomas	Player of the Week award	July 10, 2017	[5]
Jonquel Jones	Player of the Week award	August 14, 2017	[6]
Jonquel Jones	Player of the Month award	June 2017	[7]
Curt Miller	Coach of the Month award	July 2017	[8]
Curt Miller	Executive of the Year	September 10, 2017	[9]
Curt Miller	Coach of the Year	September 10, 2017	[10]
Jonquel Jones	Most Improved Player	September 10, 2017	[11]

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
Jonquel Jones	34	34	28.5	53.4%	44.6%	81.8%	11.9	1.5	0.9	1.5	15.4
Alyssa Thomas	33	33	29.8	50.9%	0.0%	56.7%	6.8	4.5	1.6	0.4	14.8
Jasmine Thomas	32	31	28.2	42.1%	40.3%	78.1%	2.3	4.3	1.6	0.1	14.2
Courtney Williams	34	28	26.0	47.3%	32.4%	87.8%	4.2	2.1	0.5	0.2	12.3
Shekinna Stricklen	34	29	27.2	41.1%	41.0%	86.5%	3.1	1.1	1.2	0.1	8.6
Alex Bentley	31	9	23.7	38.0%	27.8%	80.9%	1.5	2.9	0.8	0.1	8.4
Lynetta Kizer	20	1	11.9	48.0%	0.0%	76.7%	2.9	0.3	0.6	0.4	6.0
Morgan Tuck	22	5	16.6	35.4%	28.9%	81.0%	2.2	0.9	0.4	0.0	5.4
Rachel Banham	30	0	9.4	32.7%	28.1%	80.0%	1.1	0.7	0.1	0.0	3.3
Brionna Jones	23	0	6.4	57.5%	—	83.3%	1.7	0.1	0.4	0.1	2.9
Danielle Adams	19	0	4.4	35.6%	38.7%	100%	0.6	0.2	0.2	0.2	2.6
Kayla Pedersen	26	0	10.2	37.1%	0.0%	70.6%	2.3	0.6	0.3	0.1	1.5
Feyonda Fitzgerald	2	0	4.0	0.0%	—	—	2.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
Jordan Hooper	3	0	3.7	0.0%	0.0%	—	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

References

1. "2017 Connecticut Sun Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
2. "Connecticut's Jones and Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 19, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
3. "Connecticut's Thomas and Dallas' Diggins-Smith Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 26, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
4. "Connecticut's Thomas And Los Angeles' Parker Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 5, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
5. "Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas and Phoenix's Brittney Griner Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 10, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
6. "Connecticut's Jones, Minnesota's Fowles Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. August 14, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
7. "Connecticut's Jones, Minnesota's Fowles Named WNBA Players of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 5, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
8. "Connecticut's Curt Miller Named WNBA Coach of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. August 1, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
9. "Connecticut's Curt Miller Named Inaugural WNBA Basketball Executive Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
10. "Connecticut's Curt Miller Named WNBA Coach Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
11. "Connecticut's Jonquel Jones Named 2017 WNBA Most Improved Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 10, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.

External links

• The Official Site of the Connecticut Sun