2018 Connecticut Sun season
WNBA team season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2018 WNBA season is the 20th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the WNBA. It is also the 16th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season tipped off on May 13.[1]
| 2018 Connecticut Sun season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Curt Miller |
| Arena | Mohegan Sun Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 21–13 (.618) |
| Place | 3rd (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | 4th seed, Lost in Second Round to Phoenix Mercury 86–96 |
| Media | |
| Television | NBC Sports Boston and WCCT-TV |
The Sun got off to a strong start, going 3–0 in May. All three wins were at home. In June, the Sun started strong, winning their first 4 of 5. However, they lost 5 of their next 7 games to finish 6–6 on the month. That skid included a 1–4 road trip, where all losses came 4 of eventual top 5 playoff teams. Their up and down season continued into July, where the Sun were 5–6. July started with another tough road trip where the Sun went 1–3. From there the Sun couldn't get a streak going; losing 2 then winning 2 then losing 2 again. The Sun surged in August posting a 7–1 record, including going 6–0 at home. Their only loss came on the road to Chicago. The Sun finished 21–13, which earned them the 4th seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs. Their playoff run fell short when they lost at home in the second round 86–96. This was the Sun's only playoff game, as they earned a first round bye.
Transactions
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Lexie Brown |  United States |
Duke |
| 3 | 33 | Mikayla Cowling | United States |
California |
Trades/Roster Changes
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| February 2, 2018 | Acquired C Cayla George via trade from the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for 21st pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.[2] | |
| February 7, 2018 | Signed G Leticia Romero[3] | |
| April 12, 2018 | Sun receive Bria Holmes in exchange for 15th pick in 2018 WNBA Draft and a second round pick in 2019 WNBA draft.[4] | |
| July 9, 2018 | Sun receive Layshia Clarendon and a second round pick in 2019 WNBA draft in exchange for Alex Bentley.[5] | |
Roster
| 2018 Connecticut Sun roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game log
Preseason
| 2018 pre-season game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–0)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 pre-season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
| 2018 game log Total: 21–13 (Home: 13–4; Road: 8–9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–0)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
June
: 6–6 (Home: 2–1; Road: 4–5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
July
: 5–6 (Home: 2–3; Road: 3–3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
August
: 7–1 (Home: 6–0; Road: 1–1)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
| 2018 playoff game log Total: 0–1(Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0) | |
|---|---|
| 2018 playoff schedule | |
Standings
| # | Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta Dream (2) | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 13–4 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 2 | Washington Mystics (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | 1 | 12–5 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 3 | Connecticut Sun (4) | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 9–7 |
| 4 | e – Chicago Sky | 13 | 21 | .382 | 10 | 7–10 | 6–11 | 6–10 |
| 5 | e – New York Liberty | 7 | 27 | .206 | 16 | 4–13 | 3–14 | 6–10 |
| 6 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 28 | .176 | 17 | 2–15 | 4–13 | 3–13 |
Playoffs
| First round Single elimination (Aug. 21) | Second round Single elimination (Aug. 23) | Semifinals Best-of-5 (Aug. 26 – Sept. 4) | WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 7 – Sept. 12) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle Storm | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Connecticut Sun | 86 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 96 | 1 | Seattle Storm | 3 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Dallas Wings | 83 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Atlanta Dream | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Washington Mystics | 96 | 3 | Washington Mystics | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 75 | 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 64 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Minnesota Lynx | 68 | ||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.
- Bold – Game or series winner
- Italic – Team with home-court advantage
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alyssa Thomas | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | May 29, 2018 | [6] |
| Chiney Ogwumike | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 | [7] |
| Jonquel Jones | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | August 20, 2018 | [8] |
| WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award | August 23, 2018 | [9] |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chiney Ogwumike | 31 | 31 | 25.5 | .603 | .500 | .797 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 14.4 |
| Jasmine Thomas | 34 | 34 | 28.1 | .398 | .311 | .855 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 12.9 |
| Courtney Williams | 30 | 29 | 27.1 | .456 | .377 | .680 | 5.9 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 12.6 |
| Jonquel Jones | 34 | 16 | 20.5 | .550 | .467 | .671 | 5.5 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 11.8 |
| Alyssa Thomas | 24 | 24 | 30.6 | .464 | .000 | .547 | 8.1 | 4.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 10.3 |
| Shekinna Stricklen | 34 | 30 | 18.8 | .430 | .430 | .857 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 6.6 |
| Morgan Tuck | 34 | 1 | 13.6 | .473 | .349 | .826 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 5.9 |
| Layshia Clarendon | 15 | 0 | 15.9 | .492 | .000 | .826 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 5.4 |
| Rachel Banham | 33 | 5 | 12.8 | .414 | .370 | .868 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 5.2 |
| Brionna Jones | 27 | 0 | 9.0 | .469 | .000 | .727 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 3.1 |
| Betnijah Laney | 29 | 0 | 9.3 | .471 | .111 | .909 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Lexie Brown | 22 | 0 | 5.6 | .273 | .310 | .571 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.7 |