2016 Connecticut Sun season | |
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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 |
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.
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
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1 | 3 | Morgan Tuck | ![]() | Connecticut |
1 | 4 | Rachel Banham | ![]() | Minnesota |
1 | 6 | Jonquel Jones | ![]() | George Washington |
2 | 17 | Jamie Weisner | ![]() | Oregon State |
3 | 27 | Aliyyah Handford | ![]() | St. John's |
Date | Details | |
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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] |
2016 Connecticut Sun roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [5]
2016 pre-season game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
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2016 pre-season schedule |
2016 game log Total: 14–20 (Home: 8–9; Road: 6–11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–5 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–3)
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June : 2–8 (Home: 2–4; Road: 0–4)
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July : 5–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 4–1)
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August : 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)
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September : 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
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2016 season schedule |
Eastern Conference | 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 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Jasmine Thomas | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | September 19, 2016 | [6] |
All-Defensive Second Team | September 30, 2016 | [7] |
Legend | |||||||
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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 |
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 |
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