# 2006 Connecticut Sun season

The 2006 WNBA season was their eighth season and their fourth in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the fourth consecutive season and were successful. Before the season started, many thought the Sun would make their third consecutive trip to the WNBA Finals, but lost to the eventual champion Detroit Shock in 3 games.

## Offseason
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
| 2 | 28 | Debbie Merrill | United States | Ohio State |
| 3 | 42 | Marita Payne | United States | Auburn |

### Transactions

* July 24: The Sun signed Jessica Brungo.
* July 13: The Sun signed Brooke Queenan.
* June 29: The Sun waived Ambrosia Anderson.
* May 19: The Sun waived Donna Loffhagen and Jennifer Derevjanik.
* May 16: The Sun waived Brooke Queenan.
* May 15: The Sun waived Monique Coker.
* May 13: The Sun waived Katie Cronin and Jessica Brungo.
* May 12: The Sun signed Brooke Queenan.
* May 11: The Sun signed Ambrosia Anderson.
* April 6: The Sun signed Katie Cronin.
* March 27: The Sun have agreed to terms with Erin Phillips.
* March 15: The Sun signed Monique Coker.
* March 1: The Sun resigned Jennifer Derevjanik.
* February 28: The Sun resigned Jamie Carey.
* February 27: The Sun resigned Laura Summerton and Le'Coe Willingham and signed Donna Loffhagen.
* February 10: The Sun resigned Asjha Jones.
* February 7: The Sun resigned Nykesha Sales.
* February 1: The Sun announced the signings of Megan Mahoney and Candace Futrell.

## Season standings

| Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| z - Connecticut Sun | 26 | 8 | .765 | – | 14–3 | 12–5 | 15–5 |
| x - Detroit Shock | 23 | 11 | .676 | 3.0 | 14–3 | 9–8 | 14–6 |
| x - Indiana Fever | 21 | 13 | .618 | 5.0 | 12–5 | 9–8 | 12–8 |
| x - Washington Mystics | 18 | 16 | .529 | 8.0 | 13–4 | 5–12 | 12–8 |
| e - New York Liberty | 11 | 23 | .324 | 15.0 | 7–10 | 4–13 | 7–13 |
| e - Charlotte Sting | 11 | 23 | .324 | 15.0 | 7–10 | 4–3 | 6–14 |
| e - Chicago Sky | 5 | 29 | .147 | 21.0 | 3–14 | 2–15 | 4–16 |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2006 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1May 7DetroitL 58-77Carey (10)Jones (8)Phillips (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,2720-1
2May 9@ SacramentoL 73-74Sales (19)Jones (7)N/AUniversity Arena 6,3920-2
3May 13@ PhoenixW 96-85Sales (30)McWilliams-Franklin (9)Douglas (4)US Airways Center 2,0691-2 :

### Regular season

2006 Game Log: Regular Season :
May
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1
May 20
New York
W 91-74
Sales (19)
Sales (10)
Whalen, Sales (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 8,316
1-0
2
May 23
@ Minnesota
W 81-69
Douglas (28)
McWilliams-Franklin (11)
Whalen (6)
Target Center 9,471
2-0
3
May 27
Detroit
L 73-77 (OT)
Douglas (18)
McWilliams-Franklin, Douglas (7)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,738
2-1 :
June
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
4
June 1
@ Charlotte
W 89-65
Sales (18)
Dydek (15)
Douglas (5)
Charlotte Bobcats Arena 3,632
3-1
5
June 3
Charlotte
W 89-71
Dydek (17)
McWilliams-Franklin (15)
Sales (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,318
4-1
6
June 7
@ New York
W 75-60
Douglas (17)
McWilliams-Franklin (7)
Sales, Phillips (4)
Madison Square Garden 10,180
5-1
7
June 9
Seattle
W 85-81
Douglas (18)
Dydek (12)
Whalen (9)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,138
6-1
8
June 13
Washington
W 85-71
Douglas (26)
Douglas (7)
Whalen, Jones (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,339
7-1
9
June 16
@ Phoenix
L 86-91
Douglas (27)
McWilliams-Franklin (17)
Whalen (4)
US Airways Center 6,378
7-2
10
June 17
@ Los Angeles
L 70-82
Jones (16)
Sales, Dydek, Jones (5)
Whalen (5)
STAPLES Center 7,991
7-3
11
June 20
@ Charlotte
W 90-66
Sales (15)
McWilliams-Franklin (9)
Whalen (6)
Charlotte Bobcats Arena 4,243
8-3
12
June 22
Minnesota
W 79-62
Whalen, Dydek (16)
Jones (11)
Sales (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,573
9-3
13
June 23
@ Chicago
W 84-79
Sales (23)
McWilliams-Franklin (14)
Whalen (6)
UIC Pavilion 2,818
10-3
14
June 25
@ Washington
L 80-87
McWilliams-Franklin, Sales, Jones (15)
McWilliams-Franklin (11)
Whalen (6)
MCI Center 7,216
10-4
15
June 27
Houston
W 73-57
Sales (19)
Dydek (13)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,220
11-4
16
June 30
Detroit
L 64-70
Jones (16)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,003
11-5 :
July
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
17
July 1
@ Indiana
W 76-66
Douglas (22)
Whalen (10)
Whalen, Sales (3)
Conseco Fieldhouse 7,033
12-5
18
July 6
Charlotte
W 76-71
Whalen (20)
Dydek (9)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,019
13-5
19
July 8
Phoenix
W 82-77
Douglas (22)
McWilliams-Franklin (12)
McWilliams-Franklin (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 9,341
14-5
20
July 15
@ Sacramento
L 63-69
McWilliams-Franklin (13)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Phillips (4)
ARCO Arena 7,997
14-6
21
July 16
@ Seattle
W 92-83
Douglas (26)
Dydek (14)
McWilliams-Franklin (7)
KeyArena 8,952
15-6
22
July 20
Chicago
W 86-72
Douglas (19)
McWilliams-Franklin (8)
Phillips (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,740
16-6
23
July 22
@ San Antonio
W 79-61
Dydek (18)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
McWilliams-Franklin, Whalen (7)
AT&T Center N/A
17-6
24
July 24
@ New York
W 89-71
McWilliams-Franklin (22)
Dydek (10)
Douglas (6)
Madison Square Garden 8,419
18-6
25
July 25
Washington
W 73-86
Douglas (28)
McWilliams-Franklin (12)
McWilliams-Franklin (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,535
19-6
26
July 28
Sacramento
W 75-68
Douglas (19)
McWilliams-Franklin (14)
Douglas (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,558
20-6
27
July 30
San Antonio
W 72-65
Jones (22)
Jones, Dydek (8)
Carey (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,454
21-6 :
August
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
28
August 1
New York
W 66-52
Jones (22)
McWilliams-Franklin, Dydek (10)
Phillips (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,159
22-6
29
August 3
Los Angeles
W 72-63
McWilliams-Franklin (22)
Jones (10)
Phillips (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 8,675
23-6
30
August 6
@ Houston
W 86-67
McWilliams-Franklin (21)
McWilliams-Franklin (13)
Whalen (9)
Toyota Center 8,726
24-6
31
August 8
@ Chicago
W 85-59
Douglas (19)
McWilliams-Franklin (12)
Whalen, Jones (5)
UIC Pavilion 3,520
25-6
32
August 9
@ Indiana
W 71-63
Jones (21)
McWilliams-Franklin (14)
Sales (4)
Conseco Fieldhouse 7,368
26-6
33
August 11
Indiana
L 68-87
Whalen (16)
McWilliams-Franklin (5)
Phillips (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 9,341 (sellout)
26-7
34
August 13
@ Detroit
L 65-88
McWilliams-Franklin (13)
McWilliams-Franklin, Sales (5)
Phillips, Dydek (3)
Palace of Auburn Hills 11,558
26-8 :

### Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Washington Mystics. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Washington, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun swept the Mystics and game 3 was not needed. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face rival Detroit Shock. Again, the Sun had the better record and the series would be played with game 1 at Detroit and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. Even though the Sun had a better record in the regular season, Detroit had managed to beat Connecticut in all four of the season meetings. Surprisingly, the Sun won game two of the series but went on to lose game three on their home court. Detroit advanced to the WNBA Finals. Had Connecticut advanced, it would have been the third consecutive season the Sun had made it to the WNBA Finals.
* For the fourth consecutive season, the Sun qualify for the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
* For the fourth consecutive season, the Sun advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
2006 Game Log: Postseason :
Eastern Conference Semifinals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1
August 18
@ Washington
W 76-61
Whalen (22)
McWilliams-Franklin (14)
McWilliams-Franklin (6)
Verizon Center 8,547
1-0
2
August 20
Washington
W 68-65
Douglas (16)
McWilliams-Franklin (14)
Sales (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,579
2-0 :
Eastern Conference Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1
August 24
@ Detroit
L 59-70
Whalen, Phillips (13)
Dydek (8)
McWilliams-Franklin, Whalen, Phillips (3)
Palace of Auburn Hills 9,476
0-1
2
August 26
Detroit
W 77-73
McWilliams-Franklin (18)
Jones (8)
Sales (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,377
1-1
3
August 27
Detroit
L 55-79
McWilliams-Franklin (12)
Dydek (9)
Sales (3)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,820
1-2 :

## Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Margo Dydek | Laura Summerton |
| PF | Taj McWilliams-Franklin | Asjha Jones -- Le'Coe Willingham |
| SF | Nykesha Sales | Megan Mahoney |
| SG | Katie Douglas | Erin Phillips |
| PG | Lindsay Whalen | Jamie Carey |

## Player stats

* http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2006/

## Awards and honors

* Katie Douglas, Margo Dydek, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Nykesha Sales, and Lindsay Whalen were named to the All-Star Team.
* Katie Douglas was named the All-Star Game MVP.
* Head coach Mike Thibault was named Coach of the Year.
* Katie Douglas was named to the All-WNBA First Team.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
* Katie Douglas was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team for the second consecutive year.
* Margo Dydek was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 24, 2006.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 7, 2006.