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2017 Connecticut Sun season

2017 Connecticut Sun season
CoachCurt Miller
ArenaMohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,728 per game
Results
Record21–13 (.618)
Place2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost in Second Round to Phoenix
Team Leaders
PointsJonquel Jones 15.4 ppg
ReboundsJonquel Jones 11.9 rpg
AssistsAlyssa Thomas 4.5 apg
Media
TelevisionNBC Sports Boston and WCCT-TV

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

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WNBA draft

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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

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2017 Connecticut Sun roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
F/C 11 United States Adams, Danielle 6' 1" (1.85m) 239 lb (108kg) 02-19-1989 Texas A&M 5
G 1 United States Banham, Rachel 5' 9" (1.75m) 168 lb (76kg) 07-15-1993 Minnesota 2
G 20 United States Bentley, Alex 5' 7" (1.7m) 152 lb (69kg) 10-27-1990 Penn State 4
F/C 35 The Bahamas Jones, Jonquel 6' 6" (1.98m) 190 lb (86kg) 01-05-1994 George Washington 1
F 42 United States Jones, Brionna 6' 3" (1.91m) 230 lb (104kg) 12-18-1995 Maryland R
C 12 United States Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m) 230 lb (104kg) 04-04-1990 Maryland 5
F 13 United States Ogwumike, Chiney Injured 6' 3" (1.91m) 174 lb (79kg) 03-22-1992 Stanford 2
F 7 United States Pedersen, Kayla 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) 04-14-1989 Stanford 5
G/F 40 United States Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) 07-30-1990 Tennessee 5
F 25 United States Thomas, Alyssa 6' 2" (1.88m) 185 lb (84kg) 04-12-1992 Maryland 3
G 5 United States Thomas, Jasmine 5' 9" (1.75m) 145 lb (66kg) 09-30-1989 Duke 6
F 33 United States Tuck, Morgan 6' 2" (1.88m) 200 lb (91kg) 04-30-1994 Connecticut 1
G 10 United States Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 136 lb (62kg) 05-11-1994 South Florida 1
Head coach
United States Curt Miller (Baldwin Wallace)
Assistant coaches
United States Nicki Collen (Marquette)
United States Steve Smith
Athletic trainer
United States Jeremy Norman (Keene State College)
Strength and conditioning coach
United States Tim Yuhas (Connecticut)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Game log

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Preseason

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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

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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

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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

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# Eastern Conference
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

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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)
2Los Angeles Sparks798689
4Connecticut Sun835Phoenix Mercury667287
5Phoenix Mercury795Phoenix Mercury881Minnesota Lynx8470648085
8Seattle Storm692Los Angeles Sparks8568756976
1Minnesota Lynx1019381
3New York Liberty686Washington Mystics818370
6Washington Mystics866Washington Mystics82
7Dallas Wings76

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

Awards and honors

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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

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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

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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

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  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.
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