2021 Connecticut Sun season | |
---|---|
Coach | Curt Miller |
Arena | Mohegan Sun Arena |
Attendance | 2,992 per game |
Results | |
Record | 26–6 (.813) |
Place | 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | 1st seed, Lost in Semifinals to Phoenix Mercury 2–3 |
Team Leaders | |
Points | Jonquel Jones – 19.4 ppg |
Rebounds | Jonquel Jones – 11.2 rpg |
Assists | Jasmine Thomas – 4.0 apg |
The 2021 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was also the 19th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season began on May 14, 2021, at the Atlanta Dream. [1]
The Sun started the season strongly and went on a five-game winning streak before losing their first game. They lost two of their last three games in May to finish with a strong 6–2 record in that month. The month of June was streaky for the Sun, with a three-game losing streak book-ended by a two-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak. Those streaks left the team with a 5–3 record in June. The Sun went 3–1 in July, the last month before the Olympic break. The team headed into the Olympic break with a 14–6 overall record.
The first game back from the Olympic break was the inaugural WNBA Commissioner's Cup, where the Sun faced off against the Seattle Storm in Phoenix. The game was difficult for the Sun and they lost 57–79. However, this result would not portend the rest of the team's results after the Olympic break. The Sun won their remaining seven games in August to finish the month with a 7–0 regular season record. Their dominance continued into September where the Sun went 5–0, to finish the season on a thirteen-game winning streak. Their final regular season record was 26–6, which earned them the top seed in the 2021 WNBA Playoffs. Their 26 wins was tied for the most regular season wins in franchise history with 2005 and 2006.
As the first seed in the playoffs, the Sun earned a double bye into the Semifinals and would have home-court advantage against the lowest remaining seed from the second round. After the second round, it was determined that the Sun would play the Chicago Sky. The series started off with a thrilling double overtime game that the Sun dropped 95–101. The Sun won the next game 79–68 to take a 1–1 series into Chicago. Chicago used their home court to their advantage and won the next two games and the series 3–1.
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 20 | DiJonai Carrington | United States | Baylor |
2 | 21 | Micaela Kelly | United States | Central Michigan |
3 | 30 | Aleah Goodman | United States | Oregon State |
Date | Details | |
---|---|---|
January 4, 2021 | Extended Qualifying Offer to Natisha Hiedeman [2] | |
January 5, 2021 | Extended Qualifying Offers to Brionna Jones and Beatrice Mompremier [3] | |
January 7, 2021 | Signed Natisha Hiedeman to the Qualifying Offer [4] | |
January 10, 2021 | Signed Beatrice Mompremier to the Qualifying Offer [5] | |
February 1, 2021 | Signed Kamiah Smalls to a Training Camp Contract [6] | |
February 2, 2021 | Re-Signed Alyssa Thomas [7] | |
February 4, 2021 | Re-Signed Jasmine Thomas [8] | |
February 5, 2021 | Re-Signed Brionna Jones [9] | |
February 6, 2021 | Signed Sydney Wallace to a Training Camp Contract [10] | |
February 15, 2021 | Signed Morgan Bertsch to a Training Camp Contract [11] | |
March 28, 2021 | Signed Stephanie Jones to a Training Camp Contract [12] | |
April 9, 2021 | Signed Tanaya Atkinson to a Training Camp Contract [13] | |
April 16, 2021 | Signed Teana Muldrow to a Training Camp Contract [14] | |
April 17, 2021 | Signed DiJonai Carrington, Micaela Kelly, and Aleah Goodman to Rookie Scale Contracts. [15] | |
Signed Feyonda Fitzgerald, Vionise Pierre-Louis, and Kai James to Training Camp Contracts. [16] | ||
April 18, 2021 | Signed Brianna Fraser to a Training Camp Contract [17] | |
April 17, 2021 | Waived Sydney Wallace, Vionise Pierre-Louis, Teana Muldrow, and Kai James. [18] | |
May 2, 2021 | Waived Tanaya Atkinson. [19] | |
May 9, 2021 | Waived Micaela Kelly, Feyonda Fitzgerald, and Morgan Bertsch. [20] | |
May 11, 2021 | Waived Aleah Goodman and Brianna Fraser. [21] | |
May 12, 2021 | Waived Kamiah Smalls. [22] | |
Temporarily Suspended Jasmine Thomas. [23] | ||
May 14, 2021 | Signed Aleah Goodman to a Hardship Contract. [24] | |
May 17, 2021 | Activate Jasmine Thomas from Temporary Suspension List. [25] | |
Released Aleah Goodman from Hardship Contract. | ||
May 21, 2021 | Signed Shatori Walker-Kimbrough to a Hardship Contract. [26] | |
May 28, 2021 | Released Shatori Walker-Kimbrough from the Hardship Contract. [27] | |
June 6, 2021 | Temporarily Suspend Jonquel Jones due to Overseas Commitments [28] | |
June 7, 2021 | Signed Emma Cannon to a Hardship Contract [29] | |
June 27, 2021 | Release Emma Cannon from the Hardship Contract [30] | |
June 29, 2021 | Activate Jonquel Jones from Temporary Suspension [31] |
2021 Connecticut Sun roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2021 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)
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2021 pre-season schedule |
2021 playoff game log Total: 1–3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Semifinals
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2021 playoff schedule |
# | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Connecticut Sun | 26 | 6 | .813 | – | 12–3 | 15–1 | 11–5 | 9–1 |
2 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 24 | 8 | .750 | 2 | 11–4 | 13–3 | 11–5 | 6–4 |
3 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 22 | 10 | .688 | 4 | 10–5 | 13–3 | 9–7 | 7–3 |
4 | x – Seattle Storm | 21 | 11 | .656 | 5 | 9–6 | 11–5 | 10–6 | 8–2 |
5 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 13 | .594 | 7 | 6–9 | 7–9 | 12–4 | 5–5 |
6 | x – Chicago Sky | 16 | 16 | .500 | 10 | 10–5 | 6–10 | 10–6 | 6–4 |
7 | x – Dallas Wings | 14 | 18 | .438 | 12 | 7–8 | 7–9 | 7–9 | 3–7 |
8 | x – New York Liberty | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 6–9 | 7–9 | 5–11 | 5–5 |
9 | e – Washington Mystics | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 7–8 | 8–8 | 4–12 | 4–6 |
10 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 2–13 | 8–8 | 4–12 | 1–9 |
11 | e – Atlanta Dream | 8 | 24 | .250 | 18 | 6–9 | 4–12 | 4–12 | 4–6 |
12 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 26 | .188 | 20 | 4–11 | 4–12 | 2–14 | 2–8 |
Notes
First round Sept. 23 | Second round Sept. 26 | Semifinals Sept. 28 – Oct. 8 | WNBA Finals Oct. 10 – Oct. 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Las Vegas Aces | 96 | 91 | 60 | 93 | 84 | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Seattle Storm | 80 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 90 | 117 | 87 | 76 | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
5 | Phoenix Mercury | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 85OT | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 77 | 91OT | 50 | 74 | – | ||||||||||||||
8 | New York Liberty | 82 | 6 | Chicago Sky | 91 | 86 | 86 | 80 | – | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Connecticut Sun | 95 | 79 | 83 | 69 | – | ||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota Lynx | 76 | 6 | Chicago Sky | 1012OT | 68 | 86 | 79 | – | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Chicago Sky | 81 | 6 | Chicago Sky | 89 | |||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Dallas Wings | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
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 |
Source: [32]
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jonquel Jones | 27 | 27 | 31.7 | 51.5 | 36.2 | 80.2 | 11.2 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 19.4 |
DeWanna Bonner | 32 | 32 | 31.9 | 39.5 | 31.7 | 89.2 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 15.2 |
Brionna Jones | 32 | 32 | 30.6 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 79.6 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 14.7 |
Jasmine Thomas | 30 | 30 | 29.6 | 38.6 | 40.0 | 87.5 | 2.4 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 10.6 |
Natisha Hiedeman | 32 | 5 | 20.1 | 40.0 | 39.8 | 70.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 7.6 |
Briann January | 29 | 29 | 30.2 | 42.5 | 38.0 | 86.8 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 7.0 |
Alyssa Thomas | 2 | 0 | 17.5 | 26.7 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
Kaila Charles | 30 | 4 | 16.3 | 36.8 | 30.3 | 87.5 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 4.3 |
DiJonai Carrington | 24 | 1 | 9.2 | 32.9 | 14.3 | 73.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 2.8 |
Beatrice Mompremier | 32 | 0 | 8.6 | 49.1 | 0.0 | 41.7 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
Stephanie Jones | 18 | 0 | 5.5 | 41.1 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Jonquel Jones | Eastern Conference Player of the Month | June 2 | [33] |
Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 7 | [34] | |
DeWanna Bonner | June 28 | [35] | |
Brionna Jones | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 30 | [36] |
Jonquel Jones | |||
DeWanna Bonner | |||
Brionna Jones | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 6 | [37] |
Jonquel Jones yay | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | July 12 | [38] |
August 23 | [39] | ||
Brionna Jones | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | August 30 | [40] |
Jonquel Jones | Eastern Conference Player of the Month | September 2 | [41] |
Curt Miller | WNBA Coach of the Month – August | [42] | |
Jonquel Jones | Eastern Conference Player of the Week | September 6 | [43] |
Curt Miller | WNBA Coach of the Month – September | September 20 | [44] |
Jonquel Jones | Eastern Conference Player of the Month | [45] | |
Peak Performer: Rebounds | [46] | ||
Briann January | WNBA All-Defensive First Team | September 26 | [47] |
Jonquel Jones | |||
Jasmine Thomas | WNBA All-Defensive Second Team | ||
Brionna Jones | |||
Jonquel Jones | WNBA MVP | September 28 | [48] |
Brionna Jones | WNBA Most Improved Player | [49] | |
Curt Miller | Coach of the Year Award | [50] | |
Jonquel Jones | All-WNBA First Team | October 15 | [51] |
Jonquel Orthea Jones is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA draft. Since May 2019, she also holds the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing her to play for the national team.
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. 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.
The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. The regular season began on May 24, with the Atlanta Dream hosting the Dallas Wings and the New York Liberty hosting the Indiana Fever. The season ended with the Washington Mystics securing their first WNBA Title over the Connecticut Sun three games to two, in a closely contested finals. Emma Meesseman was named Finals MVP and teammate Elena Delle Donne was named regular season MVP.
The 2019 WNBA season was the 21st season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the WNBA. It was also the 17th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The team opened the season on May 25 versus the Washington Mystics.
The 2021 WNBA season was the 25th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Seattle Storm were the defending champions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams played a 32-game season that included mini two-game series to reduce travel. The regular season ran from May 14 to September 19, with a break from July 12 to August 11 for the Olympic Games.
The 2021 Chicago Sky season was the franchise's 16th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and its third season under head coach James Wade. In the postseason, the Sky won their first WNBA championship.
The 2021 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 14, 2021, versus the Phoenix Mercury.
The 2021 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 25th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the 4th year the franchise was based in Las Vegas. The regular season tipped off on May 15, 2021 at the Seattle Storm.
The 2021 New York Liberty season was the 25th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The Liberty opened the regular season on May 14, 2021 versus the Indiana Fever.
The 2021 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 14, 2021, at the Minnesota Lynx.
The 2021 Washington Mystics season was the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The regular season tipped off versus the Chicago Sky on May 15, 2021.
The 2021 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2021 season. The Chicago Sky won their first WNBA championship.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 15th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began the season on May 14, 2022, on the road against the Dallas Wings.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It also was the 20th season for the franchise in Connecticut after relocating from Orlando. The season began on May 7, 2022, at the New York Liberty.
The 2022 New York Liberty season was the 26th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The Liberty opened the regular season on May 7, 2022, versus the Connecticut Sun.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season began on May 6, 2022, against the Las Vegas Aces and ended in the 1st round of the WNBA Playoffs against the same team. The season was marred by a number of issues, including injuries and the absence of Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia on drug charges.
The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions.
The 2023 Connecticut Sun season was the 25th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was the 21st season for the franchise in Connecticut after relocating from Orlando.
The 2023 New York Liberty season was the 27th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA, and their second season under head coach Sandy Brondello.
The 2023 Seattle Storm season was the franchise's 24th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and the second full season under head coach Noelle Quinn. Quinn took over in May of the 2021 season.