November 11, 2026
November 11, 2026
Connecticut Sun’s 2025 Season: Rebuilding From Nothing
Connecticut Sun’s 2025 Season began with a roster that barely resembled the one that had won 28 games a year earlier. Every starter was gone. A first-time WNBA coach took over. The losses came early and often, and the franchise finished 11-33. Yet inside that record lay a fierce second-half push, a historic year from Tina Charles and a rookie class that gave Uncasville something real to build on.
The winter of 2024 tore apart one of the steadiest contenders in the league. Connecticut had reached the semifinals five straight years, and that core scattered within weeks. What followed was the most complete reset in WNBA history.
Head coach Stephanie White left on November 6, 2024. Free agency and trades then stripped the roster bare. A four-team deal on February 2 sent Alyssa Thomas to Phoenix and shipped DiJonai Carrington and Tyasha Harris to Dallas. DeWanna Bonner signed with Indiana, and Brionna Jones landed in Atlanta.
Connecticut became the first WNBA team to lose its entire starting lineup between one playoff run and the next season. The Sun returned just 11.4 percent of their 2024 scoring. No other team in the league came close to that level of turnover.
The front office handed the rebuild to new faces. Morgan Tuck became general manager on December 3, and French coach Rachid Meziane was hired the next day. Meziane arrived without WNBA experience and set a simple goal: rebuild the culture first.
Tuck reshaped the roster aggressively. Tina Charles returned to the franchise that drafted her, signing a one-year deal. Lindsay Allen came over from Chicago. Natasha Cloud, acquired in the February deal, was flipped to New York for the No. 7 pick and a 2026 first-rounder.
Marina Mabrey asked for a trade, and the Sun refused. The club planned to build its offense around her. In April, Connecticut drafted LSU forward Aneesah Morrow at No. 7 and NC State guard Saniya Rivers at No. 8. USC center Rayah Marshall followed at No. 25, and all three made the opening-day roster.
Connecticut Sun’s 2025 Season opened with a 90-85 home loss to Washington on May 18. Four more defeats followed. A young team with almost no shared history was learning on the fly against established contenders.
The first breakthrough came on the road. On May 30 at Indiana, the Sun clung to an 84-83 lead with about six seconds left. Rivers stepped to the line and made one of two free throws. Connecticut held on to win 85-83, the 500th victory in franchise history. Mabrey scored 26 points in her 200th career game.
A week later, Mabrey delivered the best scoring night of her season. She poured in 34 points in an 84-76 home win over Atlanta on June 6. That performance showed exactly why the Sun had refused to trade her.
The bottom then fell out. On June 1, the Sun were crushed 100-52 at New York, a 48-point loss. A nine-game losing streak stretched from June 8 through June 29. By early July, Connecticut had won just two of its first 17 games.
The rookies refused to let the slide define them. Morrow had battled knee pain through camp, but on June 27 she erupted for 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench against Seattle. It was her first WNBA double-double. She later started the final 21 games of the season.
Leïla Lacan, a 2024 draft pick and Olympic silver medalist with France, was activated on July 2. Her arrival changed the backcourt. One week later, the Sun knocked off a playoff-bound Seattle team for their third win.
On July 27, everything clicked. Connecticut demolished Golden State 95-64, a 31-point win and the largest margin of the year. Charles and the young guards were starting to look like a unit.
The final six weeks revealed a different team. On August 7, the Sun traded Jacy Sheldon to Washington for forward Aaliyah Edwards, a former No. 6 overall pick. Edwards added size and another young piece to the frontcourt.
The most painful night came on August 17 against Indiana. The Sun forced overtime and pushed the Fever to the limit. Lacan handed out 14 assists, and Mabrey scored 27 points. Connecticut still fell 99-93, a loss that stung precisely because the effort was there.
Two days later, the Sun seized the longest winning streak of their season. Connecticut won three straight from August 19 to August 23. Charles was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on August 26. The bench celebrated every big moment with the “Tina Shimmy,” and the chemistry was obvious.
Connecticut won eight games after the All-Star break. That second-half form gave the season a completely different feel than the spring. The IX’s season review captured how the group’s bond grew through the losing.
Charles saved her biggest moment for September 3 against Chicago. She drained a 17-foot jumper for her 3,342nd career field goal. That shot moved her past Diana Taurasi for the most field goals in WNBA history. Days later, she broke the franchise single-season scoring record and finished with 700 points.
Rivers made history of her own on September 8 at Atlanta. Her late three-pointer gave her 42 for the season, a franchise rookie record. She finished with 43, along with averages of 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Sports Illustrated’s look at the season’s milestones detailed both record-setting nights.
The year ended with an 88-72 home loss to Atlanta on September 10. Connecticut finished 11-33, going 7-15 at home and 4-18 on the road. The full statistical record is available at Basketball Reference. It was the franchise’s first playoff miss since 2016.
The standings will remember Connecticut Sun’s 2025 Season as a collapse. The players who lived through it saw something closer to a foundation.
Charles led the team at 16.3 points per game at age 36. Mabrey added 14.4 points and a team-high 4.0 assists. At the final home game, Charles announced she would return in 2026.
The young core gave the season its lasting value. Morrow averaged 6.9 rebounds and ranked among the league’s top rebounders as a rookie. Rivers became one of the fastest guards in two decades to reach 50 steals and 25 blocks. Lacan, who shot 47.7 percent from the field, earned a place on the AP All-Rookie Team on September 12.
Mabrey credited the rookies with pushing her to change how she led. Meziane got his culture, even if the wins arrived late.
The bigger story hung over every home game. On May 12, reports revealed that the Mohegan Tribe had hired Allen & Company to explore a sale. Fans answered with “Keep the Sun in Connecticut” signs throughout the summer.
A group led by Steve Pagliuca offered $325 million to buy the team and move it to Boston. The WNBA blocked that plan, insisting relocation decisions belonged to its Board of Governors. In March 2026, the Sun agreed to a record $300 million sale to Tilman Fertitta, with plans to revive the Houston Comets in 2027.
How does a fan base measure a season like that? Connecticut Sun’s 2025 Season answered with fight rather than wins. The complete transaction log is preserved in the 2025 Connecticut Sun season record. It shows a franchise that lost everything in one winter and still found a young core worth believing in.
7th February, 2017
17th June, 2026
5th March, 2016
29th March, 2016
17th April, 2016
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