# 2003 Connecticut Sun season

The 2003 WNBA season was their fifth season and their first in Connecticut. The Sun made the playoffs for the first time since 2000. They would sweep the Charlotte Sting in the first round, only to get swept to the eventual champion Detroit Shock in the conference finals.

## Offseason
### Dispersal Draft

Based on the Sun's 2002 record, they would pick 6th in the Miami Sol/Portland Fire dispersal draft. The Sun selected point guard Debbie Black.

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
| 2 | 13 | Courtney Coleman | United States | Ohio State |
| 3 | 34 | Lindsay Wilson | United States | Iowa State |

### Transactions

* September 23: Rebecca Lobo announced her retirement.
* May 21: The Sun waived Rasheeda Clark and Lindsey Wilson and announced the retirement of Carla McGhee.
* May 10: The Sun waived Brianne Stepherson.
* May 7: The Sun waived Natalie Powers.
* May 1: The Sun waived Davalyn Cunningham.
* February 14: The Sun traded its second round pick in the 2003 WNBA Draft to the Houston Comets in return for Rebecca Lobo.

## Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 13–4 | 12–5 | 18–6 |
| Charlotte Sting $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 13–4 | 5–12 | 12–12 |
| Connecticut Sun $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 10–7 | 8–9 | 11–13 |
| Cleveland Rockers $^x$ | 17 | 17 | .500 | 8.0 | 11–6 | 6–11 | 13–11 |
| Indiana Fever $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 9.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 12–12 |
| New York Liberty $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 9.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 11–13 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 9 | 25 | .265 | 16.0 | 3–14 | 6–11 | 7–17 |

## Schedule
### Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 1 | May 6 | New York | L 81-73 | 0-1 |
| 2 | May 11 | @ Charlotte | W 65-64 | 1-1 |
| 3 | May 16 | Houston | L 72-79 | 1-2 |

### Regular season

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 1 | May 24 | Los Angeles | L 73-82 | 0-1 |
| 2 | May 30 | @ Houston | W 91-83 | 1-1 |
| 3 | June 1 | @ San Antonio | W 83-64 | 2-1 |
| 4 | June 5 | @ Detroit | L 89-103 | 2-2 |
| 5 | June 7 | Houston | W 65-58 | 3-2 |
| 6 | June 13 | Washington | W 84-70 | 4-2 |
| 7 | June 14 | @ Cleveland | L 56-84 | 4-3 |
| 8 | June 18 | Cleveland | W 70-57 | 5-3 |
| 9 | June 20 | @ Indiana | L 74-84 | 5-4 |
| 10 | June 22 | Detroit | L 73-82 (OT) | 5-5 |
| 11 | June 24 | @ Washington | W 65-63 | 6-5 |
| 12 | June 26 | Indiana | L 90-94 (OT) | 6-6 |
| 13 | June 28 | @ Charlotte | L 55-69 | 6-7 |
| 14 | July 1 | @ New York | L 64-90 | 6-8 |
| 15 | July 2 | Cleveland | W 64-57 | 7-8 |
| 16 | July 4 | Sacramento | W 69-67 | 8-8 |
| 17 | July 6 | New York | W 62-58 | 9-8 |
| 18 | July 8 | @ Detroit | L 50-66 | 9-9 |
| 19 | July 10 | @ Minnesota | L 75-83 | 9-10 |
| 20 | July 17 | Seattle | L 65-67 | 9-11 |
| 21 | July 19 | @ Phoenix | W 75-67 | 10-11 |
| 22 | July 20 | @ Los Angeles | W 76-73 | 11-11 |
| 23 | July 23 | Minnesota | W 84-70 | 12-11 |
| 24 | July 26 | Charlotte | W 74-70 | 13-11 |
| 25 | August 1 | Washington | L 45-48 | 13-12 |
| 26 | August 3 | Indiana | W 66-55 | 14-12 |
| 27 | August 5 | Detroit | L 61-78 | 14-13 |
| 28 | August 9 | @ Charlotte | L 68-69 | 14-14 |
| 29 | August 12 | New York | L 73-74 | 14-15 |
| 30 | August 16 | @ New York | W 84-71 | 15-15 |
| 31 | August 19 | @ Cleveland | L 52-69 | 15-16 |
| 32 | August 22 | Charlotte | W 63-55 | 16-16 |
| 33 | August 23 | @ Washington | W 74-67 | 17-16 |
| 34 | August 25 | @ Indiana | W 72-62 | 18-16 |

### Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Charlotte Sting. Since the Sting had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut, game 2 at Charlotte, and game 3 (if needed) at Charlotte. The Sun swept the Sting and advanced to the second round. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Detroit Shock. Since the Shock had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Detroit. The Shock swept the Sun and game 3 was not needed.
| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Type |
| 1 | August 28 | Charlotte | W 68-66 | 1-0 | Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals, Game 1 |
| 2 | August 30 | @ Charlotte | W 68-62 | 2-0 | Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals, Game 2 |
| 3 | September 5 | Detroit | L 63-73 | 2-1 | Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1 |
| 4 | September 7 | @ Detroit | L 73-79 | 2-2 | Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2 |

## Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Taj McWilliams-Franklin | Jessie Hicks |
| PF | Brooke Wyckoff | Wendy Palmer -- Rebecca Lobo |
| SF | Katie Douglas | Courtney Coleman |
| SG | Nykesha Sales | Adrienne Johnson |
| PG | Shannon Johnson | Debbie Black |

## Player stats

* http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2003/

## Awards and honors

* Shannon Johnson and Nykesha Sales were named to the WNBA All-Star team.
* Nykesha Sales was given the Off Season Community Assist Award.