2016 Connecticut Sun season

2016 Connecticut Sun season
2016 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Curt Miller
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	6,728 per game
Results
Record	14–20 (.412)
Place	5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did Not Qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Alex Bentley – 12.9 ppg
Rebounds	Chiney Ogwumike – 6.7 rpg
Assists	Jasmine Thomas – 5.1 apg
	← 2015 season 2017 season →

The 2016 WNBA season was the 18th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the WNBA. It was the 14th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season tipped off on May 14 in Chicago versus the Chicago Sky.^[1]

The Sun went 3–0 in the preseason, but could not carry that momentum over to the regular season as they opened with a loss. They won their second game of the season over San Antonio before losing their next four straight games to end May 1–5. Their losing streak extended into June as they lost their first two games before defeating Seattle by a point. The Sun would lose their next three games, including a triple-overtime thriller against Washington 106–109. They defeated San Antonio again to break their losing streak before losing three straight games to finish June 2–8. July started much better for the Sun as they won three of their first four games, matching their win total from the first two months of the season. Their only loss came at home to Atlanta, 63–67. They lost two games and won to games to end the month 5–3. Upon return from the Olympic Break, the Sun went 2–1 in August, defeating Minnesota and San Antonio at home and losing to Atlanta away. They opened September with a win over Phoenix, but lost their next three games. They finished the season with three wins and finished September 4–3. Their 14–20 overall record saw them finish ninth overall, two games out of the final playoff spot.

Transactions

WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	3	Morgan Tuck	United States	Connecticut
1	4	Rachel Banham	United States	Minnesota
1	6	Jonquel Jones	Bahamas	George Washington
2	17	Jamie Weisner	Canada	Oregon State
3	27	Aliyyah Handford	United States	St. John's

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 3, 2016	Traded Elizabeth Williams to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the 4th Overall Pick in the 2016 WNBA draft^[2]
April 14, 20216	Traded Chelsea Gray the 15th and 23rds pick in the 2016 draft, and the 4th pick in the 2017 WNBA draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the rights to Jonquel Jones and the 17th pick in the 2016 draft.^[3]
June 25, 2016	Traded Kelsey Bone to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Courtney Williams, the rights to Jillian Alleyne and the 13th pick in the 2017 draft.^[4]

Roster

2016 Connecticut Sun roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From	Yrs
G	1	Banham, Rachel	5' 10" (1.78m)	181 lb (82kg)	07-15-1993	Minnesota	R
G	20	Bentley, Alex	5' 7" (1.7m)	152 lb (69kg)	10-27-1990	Penn State	3
G	34	Faris, Kelly	5' 11" (1.8m)	154 lb (70kg)	12-31-1991	Connecticut	3
F/C	15	Henry, Aneika	6' 4" (1.93m)	192 lb (87kg)	02-13-1986	Florida	4
F/C	35	Jones, Jonquel	6' 6" (1.98m)	215 lb (98kg)	01-05-1994	George Washington	R
F	2	Little, Camille	6' 2" (1.88m)	180 lb (82kg)	01-18-1985	North Carolina	9
F/C	13	Ogwumike, Chiney	6' 3" (1.91m)	183 lb (83kg)	03-22-1992	Stanford	1
F	40	Stricklen, Shekinna	6' 2" (1.88m)	230 lb (104kg)	07-30-1990	Tennessee	4
F	31	Taylor, Asia	6' 1" (1.85m)	167 lb (76kg)	08-22-1991	Louisville	1
F	25	Thomas, Alyssa	6' 2" (1.88m)	203 lb (92kg)	04-12-1992	Maryland	2
G	5	Thomas, Jasmine	5' 9" (1.75m)	143 lb (65kg)	09-30-1989	Duke	5
F	33	Tuck, Morgan	6' 2" (1.88m)	207 lb (94kg)	04-30-1994	Connecticut	R
G	10	Williams, Courtney	5' 8" (1.73m)	142 lb (64kg)	05-11-1994	South Florida	R

Head coach: Curt Miller (Baldwin Wallace)
Assistant coaches: Nicki Collen (Marquette)
Steve Smith

Athletic trainer: Jeremy Norman (Keene State College)

Strength and conditioning coach: Tim Yuhas (Connecticut)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(FA) Free agent
(IN) Inactive
(S) Suspended
Injured

Source:^[5]

Game log

Preseason

2016 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 4	Chicago	W 84–81	Kelsey Bone (15)	Alyssa Thomas (7)	Bone, A. Thomas, J. Thomas, Tuck (5)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,207	1–0
2	May 5	San Antonio	W 76–53	Morgan Tuck (16)	Jonquel Jones (12)	Kelly Faris (3)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,025	2–0
3	May 8	@ Dallas	W 82–74	Jonquel Jones (16)	Kelly Faris (7)	Rachel Banham (7)	College Park Center 2,326	3–0

2016 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2016 game log
Total: 14–20 (Home: 8–9; Road: 6–11)

May: 1–5 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–3)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	May 14	@ Chicago	L 70–93	Alex Bentley (14)	A. Thomas, Tuck (7)	Alyssa Thomas (4)	Allstate Arena 6,719	0–1
2	May 19	@ San Antonio	W 72–68	Camille Little (13)	Kelsey Bone (10)	Jasmine Thomas (8)	AT&T Center 6,267	1–1
3	May 21	Washington	L 76–84	Alyssa Thomas (18)	Kelsey Bone (10)	Jasmine Thomas (7)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,022	1–2
4	May 26	Los Angeles	L 72–77	Jasmine Thomas (17)	Chiney Ogwumike (9)	Bentley, J. Thomas (4)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,766	1–3
5	May 28	@ Seattle	L 81–93	Jasmine Thomas (17)	Jasmine Thomas (5)	Camille Little (6)	KeyArena 4,456	1–4
6	May 31	@ Phoenix	L 90–99	Camille Little (16)	Kelsey Bone (8)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Talking Stick Resort Arena 8,412	1–5

June: 2–8 (Home: 2–4; Road: 0–4)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
7	June 3	Atlanta	L 77–83	Alex Bentley (16)	Kelsey Bone (7)	Jasmine Thomas (5)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,541	1–6
8	June 5	Indiana	L 77–88	Alyssa Thomas (20)	Jonquel Jones (9)	Rachel Banham (3)	Mohegan Sun Arena 5,346	1–7
9	June 10	Seattle	W 77–76	Morgan Tuck (20)	Alyssa Thomas (9)	Alyssa Thomas (4)	Mohegan Sun Arena 8,075	2–7
10	June 12	@ Atlanta	L 87–93	Jasmine Thomas (19)	Bentley, Ogwumike, Tuck (6)	Bentley, Thomas (5)	Philips Arena 4,486	2–8
11	June 14	Washington	L 106–109 3OT	Alex Bentley (31)	Kelsey Bone (11)	Camille Little (4)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,442	2–9
12	June 16	New York	L 72–80	Alex Bentley (16)	Kelsey Bone (7)	Kelsey Bone (4)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,786	2–10
13	June 19	San Antonio	W 90–83	Alex Bentley (29)	Jones, J. Thomas (9)	Jasmine Thomas (10)	Mohegan Sun Arena 5,596	3–10
14	June 24	@ Seattle	L 81–98	Alex Bentley (13)	Alyssa Thomas (6)	Alex Bentley (4)	KeyArena 6,568	3–11
15	June 26	@ Los Angeles	L 73–80	Chiney Ogwumike (16)	Alyssa Thomas (9)	Alyssa Thomas (7)	Staples Center 9,441	3–12
16	June 29	@ Phoenix	L 75–86	Alex Bentley (20)	Jonquel Jones (9)	Alex Bentley (6)	Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,551	3–13

July: 5–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 4–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
17	July 2	@ Dallas	W 86–83	Alex Bentley (24)	Chiney Ogwumike (9)	Jasmine Thomas (7)	College Park Center 5,108	4–13
18	July 7	Minnesota	W 93–83	Alex Bentley (24)	Chiney Ogwumike (7)	Jasmine Thomas (7)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,739	5–13
19	July 10	Atlanta	L 63–67	Alyssa Thomas (19)	Ogwumike, J. Thomas (5)	Alex Bentley (3)	Mohegan Sun Arena 5,857	5–14
20	July 13	@ Indiana	W 86–64	Chiney Ogwumike (20)	Chiney Ogwumike (8)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Bankers Life Fieldhouse 12,272	6–14
21	July 15	Los Angeles	L 92–98	Alyssa Thomas (17)	Chiney Ogwumike (13)	Bentley, J. Thomas, Little (5)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,430	6–15
22	July 17	@ New York	L 76–83	Chiney Ogwumike (18)	Chiney Ogwumike (10)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Madison Square Garden 9,464	6–16
23	July 20	@ Dallas	W 89–78	Chiney Ogwumike (26)	Chiney Ogwumike (15)	Morgan Tuck (5)	College Park Center 4,873	7–16
24	July 22	@ Chicago	W 94–89	Alex Bentley (21)	Jonquel Jones (10)	Jasmine Thomas (8)	Allstate Arena 6,893	8–16

August: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
25	August 26	Minnesota	W 84–80	Alyssa Thomas (15)	Chiney Ogwumike (10)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Mohegan Sun Arena 7,381	9–16
26	August 28	@ Atlanta	L 73–87	Chiney Ogwumike (24)	Courtney Williams (7)	Jasmine Thomas (4)	Phillips Arena 7,055	9–17
27	August 30	San Antonio	W 89–62	Alex Bentley (21)	Alyssa Thomas (7)	Camille Little (7)	Mohegan Sun Arena 5,291	10–17

September: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
28	September 2	Phoenix	W 87–74	Chiney Ogwumike (22)	Chiney Ogwumike (10)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,709	11–17
29	September 4	@ Minnesota	L 79–93	Alex Bentley (16)	Jonquel Jones (11)	Alex Bentley (6)	Target Center 7,632	11–18
30	September 9	@ New York	L 82–89	Ogwumike, Williams (20)	Chiney Ogwumike (9)	Jasmine Thomas (4)	Madison Square Garden 9,482	11–19
31	September 11	Chicago Sky	L 86–96	Jasmine Thomas (20)	Chiney Ogwumike (10)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,620	11–20
32	September 13	Indiana	W 89–87	Jasmine Thomas (21)	A. Thomas, J. Thomas (5)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Mohegan Sun Arena 4,407	12–20
33	September 16	Dallas	W 107–74	Little, Williams (15)	Chiney Ogwumike (13)	Jasmine Thomas (6)	Mohegan Sun Arena 6,228	13–20
34	September 18	@ Washington	W 87–78	Jonquel Jones (21)	Ogwumike, A. Thomas (10)	Jasmine Thomas (10)	Verizon Center 8,991	14–20

2016 season schedule

Standings

Eastern Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
3 - New York Liberty	21	13	.618	—	10–7	11–6	11–5
4 - Chicago Sky	18	16	.529	3	11–6	7–10	8–8
5 - Indiana Fever	17	17	.500	4	8–9	9–8	8–8
6 - Atlanta Dream	17	17	.500	4	11–6	6–11	9–7
e - Connecticut Sun	14	20	.412	7	8–9	6–11	4–12
e - Washington Mystics	13	21	.382	8	5–12	8–9	8–8

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Jasmine Thomas	WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week	September 19, 2016	^[6]
Jasmine Thomas	All-Defensive Second Team	September 30, 2016	^[7]

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
Alex Bentley	34	34	28.8	38.5%	28.6%	78.5%	1.9	2.5	0.9	0.1	12.9
Chiney Ogwumike	33	18	24.3	58.7%	—	71.9%	6.7	0.7	1.0	1.0	12.6
Jasmine Thomas	34	34	32.1	40.8%	29.7%	86.1%	4.1	5.1	1.3	0.4	11.7
Alyssa Thomas	31	31	27.1	48.7%	—	63.4%	6.0	2.3	1.4	0.2	11.1
Kelsey Bone	14	13	23.9	43.3%	26.7%	66.7%	5.4	1.3	0.7	0.2	10.7
Courtney Williams	19	0	17.2	42.7%	30.8%	57.9%	3.6	1.5	0.6	0.2	8.1
Camille Little	33	29	24.6	38.4%	32.2%	63.2%	3.0	2.0	1.2	0.3	7.8
Morgan Tuck	26	3	16.7	41.4%	30.4%	71.1%	2.8	1.1	0.4	0.1	7.0
Jonquel Jones	34	6	14.1	53.1%	33.3%	73.9%	3.7	0.6	0.6	1.1	6.8
Shekinna Stricklen	28	0	10.9	36.5%	35.1%	64.3%	1.4	0.5	0.4	0.1	4.0
Rachel Banham	15	0	10.9	40.8%	35.1%	66.7%	0.7	0.9	0.5	0.1	3.7
Asia Taylor	4	0	4.3	60.0%	—	85.7%	1.0	0.8	0.0	0.0	3.0
Kelly Faris	31	0	10.2	39.6%	25.0%	93.3%	1.2	0.7	0.7	0.1	2.0
Aneika Henry	10	2	5.0	38.5%	—	40.0%	1.4	0.2	0.1	0.1	1.2

References

^ "2016 Connecticut Sun Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
^ "Seattle Connecticut Sun trade F/C Elizabeth Williams to Dream for No. 4 draft pick". espn.go.com. ESPN. February 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
^ "Sparks acquire Riquna Williams in swap of high picks with Wings". espn.go.com. ESPN. March 2, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
^ Knight, Joey (June 26, 2016). "Courtney Williams traded to Connecticut". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
^ "2016 Connecticut Sun Stats". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
^ "Sun's Jasmine Thomas, Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike Named Players of the Week" (Press release). WNBA. September 19, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
^ "Sylvia Fowles, Nneka Ogwumike Headline 2016 WNBA All-Defensive Team" (Press release). WNBA. September 30, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2024.

External links

The Official Site of the Connecticut Sun

[1] "2016 Connecticut Sun Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved May 30, 2024.

[2] "Seattle Connecticut Sun trade F/C Elizabeth Williams to Dream for No. 4 draft pick". espn.go.com. ESPN. February 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-12.

[3] "Sparks acquire Riquna Williams in swap of high picks with Wings". espn.go.com. ESPN. March 2, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-18.

[4] Knight, Joey (June 26, 2016). "Courtney Williams traded to Connecticut". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.

[5] "2016 Connecticut Sun Stats". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2024.

[6] "Sun's Jasmine Thomas, Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike Named Players of the Week" (Press release). WNBA. September 19, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2024.

[7] "Sylvia Fowles, Nneka Ogwumike Headline 2016 WNBA All-Defensive Team" (Press release). WNBA. September 30, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2024.

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