2007 Connecticut Sun season

2007 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Mike Thibault
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	7,970 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost in Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Katie Douglas (17.0)
Rebounds	Margo Dydek (6.5)
Assists	Lindsay Whalen (5.0)
← 2006 season 2008 season →

The 2007 WNBA season was their ninth season and their fifth in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the fifth consecutive season and were successful.

Offseason

Dispersal Draft

Based on the Sun's 2006 record, they would pick 13th (last) in the Charlotte Sting dispersal draft. The Sun waived their pick.

WNBA draft

Pick	Player	Nationality	School
12	Kamesha Hairston	United States	Temple
13	Sandrine Gruda	France	France
26	Cori Chambers	United States	Georgia
39	Kiera Hardy	United States	Nebraska

^[1]

Transactions

• June 8: The Sun sign Evanthia Maltsi.
• May 18: The Sun waive Laura Summerton.
• May 13: The Sun waive Kiera Hardy.
• May 11: The Sun waive Vanessa Gidden and Brooke Smith.
• May 8: The Sun waive Adrienne Davie.
• April 29: The Sun sign Brooke Smith.
• April 25: The Sun waive Monique Martin.
• March 5: The Sun re-sign Laura Summerton.
• February 22: The Sun re-sign Jamie Carey.
• February 21: The Sun trade Taj McWilliams-Franklin to the Los Angeles Sparks for the rights to Érika de Souza and the Sparks’ first pick (12th overall) in the 2007 draft.
• February 21: The Sun sign free agent Kristen Rasmussen.
• February 7: The Sun re-sign Katie Douglas and Le'Coe Willingham.

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Roster

2007 Connecticut Sun roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight From G 10 Carey, Jamie 5' 6" (1.68m) 135 lb (61kg) Texas G 23 Chambers, Cori 5' 9" (1.75m) 155 lb (70kg) Georgia C 7 Gruda, Sandrine  (DP) 6' 4" (1.93m) France F/C 41 DeSouza, Erika 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) Brazil G/F 32 Douglas, Katie  (C) 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) Purdue C 12 Dydek, Margo 7' 2" (2.18m) 223 lb (101kg) Poland G/F 21 Hairston, Kamesha 6' 0" (1.83m) 146 lb (66kg) Temple F 15 Jones, Asjha 6' 2" (1.88m) 196 lb (89kg) Connecticut G/F 24 Mahoney, Megan 6' 0" (1.83m) 160 lb (73kg) Kansas State G/F 9 Maltsi, Evanthia 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) Greece G 31 Phillips, Erin   5' 7" (1.7m) 162 lb (73kg) Australia F 52 Rasmussen, Kristen 6' 4" (1.93m) 172 lb (78kg) Michigan G/F 42 Sales, Nykesha  (C) 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) Connecticut G 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5' 8" (1.73m) 150 lb (68kg) Minnesota F 43 Willingham, Le'Coe 6' 0" (1.83m) 200 lb (91kg) Auburn	Head coach Mike Thibault (Saint Martin's) Assistant coaches Scott Hawk (Omaha) Bernadette Mattox (Georgia) Athletic trainer Jeremy Norman (Keene State) Strength and conditioning coach Jodi Hopkins (Ohio State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Detroit Shock x	24	10	.706	–	12–5	12–5	14–6
Indiana Fever x	21	13	.618	3.0	12–5	9–8	12–8
Connecticut Sun x	18	16	.529	6.0	8–9	10–7	10–10
New York Liberty x	16	18	.471	8.0	10–7	6–11	10–10
Washington Mystics o	16	18	.471	8.0	8–9	8–9	8–12
Chicago Sky o	14	20	.412	10.0	6–11	8–9	6–14

Schedule

Preseason

2007 Game Log: Preseason Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 5 New York W 61-60 Hardy (12) Rasmussen (7) Rasmussen (4) Arena at Harbor Yard N/A 1-0 2 May 8 Seattle L 55-63 Douglas (16) Willingham (9) Carey (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,607 1-1 3 May 15 @ San Antonio L 53-86 Whalen (14) Jones (5) Jones, Carey (2) AT&T Center 3,296 1-2

Regular season

2007 Game Log: Regular Season
May Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 19 @ Washington W 89-80 Sales (20) Jones, Dydek (6) Douglas, Jones (4) Verizon Center 8,042 1-0 2 May 23 @ San Antonio L 71-74 Douglas (21) Jones (9) Douglas (8) AT&T Center 8,574 1-1 3 May 26 Los Angeles L 68-88 Sales (17) de Souza (9) Whalen (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,003 1-2 4 May 31 @ Chicago W 102-97 (OT) Jones (31) Jones (9) Douglas (7) UIC Pavilion 2,634 2-2
June Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 5 June 2 Phoenix W 76-67 Jones (24) Douglas (9) Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,881 3-2 6 June 8 @ Houston W 88-77 Sales (26) Dydek (11) Douglas (6) Toyota Center 7,339 4-2 7 June 10 Detroit L 74-79 Jones (20) Dydek (9) Jones (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,724 4-3 8 June 13 @ Minnesota L 73-77 (OT) Jones (22) Jones (10) Douglas (6) Target Center 9,382 4-4 9 June 15 @ Detroit L 72-75 Sales (18) Dydek (8) Whalen (5) Palace of Auburn Hills 8,484 4-5 10 June 17 Chicago L 74-87 Jones (22) Jones (12) Douglas (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,614 4-6 11 June 20 New York L 73-76 Douglas, Sales (17) Whalen (8) Whalen (10) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,154 4-7 12 June 22 @ Indiana W 78-74 Douglas (30) Dydek (10) Whalen (7) Conseco Fieldhouse 7,240 5-7 13 June 23 San Antonio L 58-71 Douglas, Whalen (15) Dydek (8) Douglas (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,887 5-8 14 June 26 Washington L 75-91 Douglas (19) Dydek (10) Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,353 5-9 15 June 27 @ Detroit L 74-77 Jones (16) Jones (9) Douglas, Whalen (4) Palace of Auburn Hills 8,521 5-10 16 June 29 Indiana W 72-67 Douglas (22) Dydek (13) Whalen (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,617 6-10
July Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 17 July 6 @ Phoenix L 109-111 (2 OT) Jones, Sales (22) Rasmussen (13) Jones (6) US Airways Center 7,131 6-11 18 July 7 @ Los Angeles W 110-89 Douglas (28) Dydek (7) Whalen (8) STAPLES Center 8,769 7-11 19 July 11 @ Seattle W 76-63 Douglas (17) Jones (9) Whalen, Douglas (4) KeyArena 10,891 8-11 20 July 12 @ Sacramento W 82-78 (OT) Sales (23) Dydek (9) Whalen (8) ARCO Arena 6,498 9-11 21 July 17 Minnesota W 84-79 Douglas (22) Sales, Dydek, Willingham (5) Whalen, Sales (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,253 10-11 22 July 20 Seattle W 76-58 Whalen (19) Jones (10) Douglas (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 9,003 11-11 23 July 22 Houston W 81-79 Douglas (25) Douglas, Whalen, Dydek (6) Whalen (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,869 12-11 24 July 24 Detroit L 88-92 Whalen (33) de Souza (9) Whalen (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,192 13-11 25 July 26 New York W 79-75 Whalen (20) Whalen, de Souza (9) Whalen (8) Mohegan Sun Arena N/A 14-11 26 July 29 @ New York L 67-61 Douglas (26) Maltsi (8) Jones (4) Madison Square Garden 8,303 14-12 27 July 31 Chicago W 74-56 Douglas (18) Jones (9) Sales (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,048 15-12
August Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 28 August 4 Indiana W 84-59 Douglas (19) Dydek (9) Douglas (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 9,493 16-12 29 August 7 Sacramento L 79-81 Whalen, Jones (17) Jones (6) Whalen (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,930 16-13 30 August 11 @ Chicago W 88-66 Dydek (18) Dydek (6) Whalen (7) UIC Pavilion 4,261 17-13 31 August 14 @ Washington L 64-65 Dydek (17) Dydek (11) Whalen (5) Verizon Center N/A 17-14 32 August 15 @ Indiana W 77-74 Sales (32) de Souza (6) Rasmussen (3) Conseco Fieldhouse 6,433 18-14 33 August 17 @ New York L 66-74 Douglas (22) Whalen, Rasmussen, Willingham (5) Whalen (4) Madison Square Garden 8,622 18-15 34 August 19 Washington L 74-76 Douglas (21) Douglas (9) Whalen (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 9,518 (sellout) 18-16

Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Indiana Fever. Since the Fever had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut, game 2 at Indiana, and game 3 (if needed) at Indiana. The Sun won the first game at home in triple-overtime, but the Fever went on to win games two and three and take the series.

• For the fifth consecutive season, the Sun qualify for the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
• For the first time in franchise history, the Sun lose in the first round of the playoffs and do not advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

2007 Game Log: Postseason

Eastern Conference Semifinals Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 August 23 Indiana W 93-88 (3 OT) Sales (25) Dydek (11) Whalen (10) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,271 1-0 2 August 25 @ Indiana L 59-78 Douglas (11) Sales (6) Carey (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 7,298 1-1 3 August 27 @ Indiana L 88-93 (OT) Douglas (27) Whalen (10) Douglas, Jones (5) Conseco Fieldhouse 6,012 1-2

Depth

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Inactive
C	Margo Dydek	Érika de Souza	Sandrine Gruda
PF	Asjha Jones	Kristen Rasmussen -- Le'Coe Willingham
SF	Nykesha Sales	Evanthia Maltsi -- Megan Mahoney
SG	Katie Douglas	Kamesha Hairston	Cori Chambers
PG	Lindsay Whalen	Jamie Carey	Erin Phillips

Player stats

• http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2007/

Awards and honors

• Katie Douglas and Asjha Jones were named reserves for the 2007 Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
• Katie Douglas was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team for the third consecutive year.
• Margo Dydek was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team for the second consecutive year.
• Katie Douglas was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
• Asjha Jones was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of June 4, 2007.
• Lindsay Whalen was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 23, 2007.
• Katie Douglas was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 30, 2007.

References

1. WNBA.com: 2008 WNBA Draft Board Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
2. WNBA.com: 2007 WNBA Transactions