Jump to content

2016 Connecticut Sun season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2016 Connecticut Sun season
CoachCurt Miller
ArenaMohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,728 per game
Results
Record14–20 (.412)
Place5th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid Not Qualify
Team Leaders
PointsAlex Bentley – 12.9 ppg
ReboundsChiney Ogwumike – 6.7 rpg
AssistsJasmine 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.

Transactions

[edit]

WNBA draft

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
2016 Connecticut Sun roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 1 United States Banham, Rachel Injured 5' 10" (1.78m) 181 lb (82kg) 07-15-1993 Minnesota R
G 20 United States Bentley, Alex 5' 7" (1.7m) 152 lb (69kg) 10-27-1990 Penn State 3
G 34 United States Faris, Kelly 5' 11" (1.8m) 154 lb (70kg) 12-31-1991 Connecticut 3
F/C 15 Jamaica Henry, Aneika 6' 4" (1.93m) 192 lb (87kg) 02-13-1986 Florida 4
F/C 35 The Bahamas Jones, Jonquel 6' 6" (1.98m) 215 lb (98kg) 01-05-1994 George Washington R
F 2 United States Little, Camille 6' 2" (1.88m) 180 lb (82kg) 01-18-1985 North Carolina 9
F/C 13 United States Ogwumike, Chiney 6' 3" (1.91m) 183 lb (83kg) 03-22-1992 Stanford 1
F 40 United States Stricklen, Shekinna 6' 2" (1.88m) 230 lb (104kg) 07-30-1990 Tennessee 4
F 31 United States Taylor, Asia 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 08-22-1991 Louisville 1
F 25 United States Thomas, Alyssa 6' 2" (1.88m) 203 lb (92kg) 04-12-1992 Maryland 2
G 5 United States Thomas, Jasmine 5' 9" (1.75m) 143 lb (65kg) 09-30-1989 Duke 5
F 33 United States Tuck, Morgan Injured 6' 2" (1.88m) 207 lb (94kg) 04-30-1994 Connecticut R
G 10 United States Williams, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m) 142 lb (64kg) 05-11-1994 South Florida R
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

Source:[5]

Game log

[edit]

Preseason

[edit]
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

[edit]
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) Philips 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

[edit]
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

Awards and honors

[edit]
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]

Statistics

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
  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. ESPN. February 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  3. ^ "Sparks acquire Riquna Williams in swap of high picks with Wings". ESPN. 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.
[edit]