# 2009 Connecticut Sun season

The 2009 WNBA season is the 11th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It is their seventh in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to advance to the WNBA Playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, but did not qualify for the postseason.

## Offseason
### Dispersal Draft

Based on the Sun's 2008 record, they would pick 10th in the Houston Comets dispersal draft. The Sun waived their pick.

### WNBA draft

The following are the Sun's selections in the 2009 WNBA draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
| 1 | 10 | Chante Black | United States | Duke |
| 2 | 17 (from Minn.) | Lyndra Littles | United States | Virginia |
| 3 | 36 | Alba Torrens | Spain | Spain |

## Transactions

* July 4: The Sun waived Lauren Ervin due to the arrival of Sandrine Gruda.
* June 28: The Sun waived Barbara Turner due to the arrival of Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota.
* June 19: The Sun signed Tan White and waived Kristi Cirone.
* June 5: The Sun waived Lyndra Littles, Danielle Page and Carrem Gay.
* June 3: The Sun claimed Kiesha Brown off waivers.
* June 1: The Sun waived Ketia Swanier and Ashley Hayes.
* April 20: The Sun signed Carrem Gay to a training camp contract.
* April 20: The Sun announced that Tamika Raymond would sit out the 2009 season.
* April 13: The Sun announced Jamie Carey's retirement.
* April 13: The Sun signed Ashley Hayes to a training camp contract.
* April 10: The Sun signed Kristi Cirone to a training camp contract.
* February 13: The Sun signed Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota to a training camp contract.
* January 23: The Sun signed Lauren Ervin to a rookie-scale contract.
* January 21: The Sun signed Barbara Turner, Kerri Gardin, and Danielle Page for the 2009 season.
* January 7: The Sun signed Kerri Gardin and Danielle Page to training camp contracts.
| Date | Trade | Trade |
| March 14, 2008 | To Connecticut Sun | To Minnesota Lynx |
| March 14, 2008 | Minnesota's second-round 2009 Draft pick and Tamika Raymond | Connecticut's second-round 2009 Draft pick and Kristen Rasmussen |

### Free agents
## Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 14–3 | 8–9 | 17–5 |
| Atlanta Dream $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4.0 | 12–5 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4.0 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 11–11 |
| Washington Mystics $^x$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 10–12 |
| Chicago Sky $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 10–12 |
| Connecticut Sun $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 9–12 |
| New York Liberty $^o$ | 13 | 21 | .382 | 9.0 | 8–9 | 5–12 | 8–13 |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2009 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1May 227:00pmNew York74-62Jones (11)Black (7)Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,5781-0
2May 277:30pm@ Atlanta73-76Phillips (18)Black, Ervin (6)Swanier, Whalen (3)Philips Arena 4,9801-1
3May 317:00pmLos Angeles77-80Phillips (11)Littles (8)Phillips, Swanier, Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,6301-2 :

### Regular season

2009 Game Log: Regular Season :
June
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1June 64:00pmWashington70-82Jones (22)Whalen (6)Whalen (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,1910-1
2June 74:00pm@ New YorkWCTX66-57Whalen (14)Whalen (12)Brown, Cirone, Whalen, Whitmore (2)Madison Square Garden 13,3971-1
3June 143:00pmAtlanta62-67Whalen (16)Black (9)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,4291-2
4June 168:00pm@ Chicago75-78Jones, Whitmore (16)Jones (5)Whalen (8)UIC Pavilion 2,3961-3
5June 197:00pmChicago91-61Jones (17)Gardin (11)Gardin (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,8922-3
6June 213:00pmSan AntonioNBA TV WCTX71-58Jones (19)Black (8)Jones, Turner, Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,9283-3
7June 277:00pmAtlanta82-68Jones (24)Jones (12)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,2644-3 :
July
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
8July 27:00pm@ IndianaNBA TV FSI53-67Whalen (11)Black (8)Brown, Whalen, White (3)Conseco Fieldhouse 6,4684-4
9July 56:00pm@ Detroit95-92 (OT)Gruda (23)Gardin, Gruda (6)Jones (5)Palace of Auburn Hills 6,9815-4
10July 77:30pm@ Atlanta67-72Jones, White (14)Gruda, Jones, White (6)Brown (4)Philips Arena 6,2255-5
11July 117:00pmDetroitNBA TV WCTX77-79 (OT)Jones (23)Jones (10)Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,3425-6
12July 147:00pmLos AngelesESPN282-71Jones (24)Gruda (6)Jones, Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,6126-6
13July 178:00pm@ San Antonio72-64Jones (17)Gruda, Whalen (7)Jones, Whalen (5)AT&T Center 9,5247-6
14July 193:00pmIndiana67-61Whalen (15)Gruda (9)Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,5178-6
15July 227:00pmSacramento83-75Jones (28)Jones (10)Phillips (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,6759-6
16July 287:30pmPhoenixESPN280-95Jekabsone-Zogota (15)Whalen (8)Holt, Whalen (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,7399-7
17July 308:00pm@ IndianaFSI85-94 (OT)Jones (21)Gruda (10)5 players (3)Conseco Fieldhouse 6,5389-8 :
August
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
18August 17:00pm@ ChicagoNBA TV WCTX72-84White (16)White (6)Jekabsone-Zogota (6)UIC Pavilion 3,0719-9
19August 26:00pm@ Detroit83-65Whalen (22)Gruda (8)Whalen (4)Palace of Auburn Hills 7,81410-9
20August 78:00pm@ MinnesotaNBA TV FSN-N88-95Gruda (21)Gruda, Jones (6)Jekabsone-Zogota (7)Target Center 8,13410-10
21August 93:00pmWashington96-67Whalen (16)Holt (8)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,52811-10
22August 137:00pmSeattle64-53Gruda (14)Jones (10)Whalen (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,98312-10
23August 147:00pm@ Washington89-91 (2OT)Jones (23)Gruda (10)Whalen (5)Verizon Center 9,73812-11
24August 197:00pmNew York74-69Whalen (20)Whalen (10)White (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,05013-11
25August 217:30pm@ New YorkNBA TV MSG83-85 (OT)Gruda (24)Gruda (12)Whalen (7)Madison Square Garden 9,35513-12
26August 227:00pmMinnesota98-94Gruda, Whalen (21)Gruda (9)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,80314-12
27August 257:00pmDetroit70-90Gruda (19)Gardin (7)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,81114-13
28August 2710:00pm@ Seattle74-86Whalen (18)Gardin (8)Whalen (5)KeyArena 6,58814-14
29August 2910:00pm@ PhoenixNBA TV WCTX84-95Jekabsone-Zogota (23)Gardin (13)Brown, Gardin, Whalen (3)US Airways Center 9,97714-15
30August 309:30pm@ Los AngelesNBA TV FSNW81-91Jekabsone-Zogota (21)Gruda (7)Whalen (9)STAPLES Center 11,07214-16 :
September
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
31September 110:00pm@ Sacramento70-90Gruda, White (13)Gruda (5)Brown, Phillips (3)ARCO Arena 6,01514-17
32September 47:00pmNew YorkNBA TV MSG88-85 (OT)Jekabsone-Zogota (23)Jekabsone-Zogota (7)Whalen (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,68515-17
33September 117:00pm@ Atlanta64-88Gruda (16)Gruda (6)4 players (2)Philips Arena 8,64415-18
34September 133:00pmIndianaWCTX95-85Gardin (23)Gardin (8)Phillips (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 9,04716-18 :
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess :

## Depth

| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
| C | Sandrine Gruda | Chante Black |
| PF | Asjha Jones | Tamika Whitmore |
| SF | Tan White | Amber Holt / Kerri Gardin |
| SG | Anete Jekabsone-Zogota | Erin Phillips |
| PG | Lindsay Whalen | Kiesha Brown |

## Regular Season Statistics
### Player statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Chante Black | 33 | 8 | 13.0 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 0.39 | 0.82 | 2.9 |
| Kiesha Brown | 34 | 0 | 11.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.38 | 0.09 | 3.8 |
| Kristi Cirone | 4 | 0 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.8 |
| Lauren Ervin | 8 | 0 | 7.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.13 | 0.00 | 2.0 |
| Kerri Gardin | 33 | 23 | 18.1 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 0.76 | 0.73 | 5.5 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 26 | 25 | 31.2 | 6.3 | 1.3 | 0.88 | 1.58 | 13.5 |
| Amber Holt | 23 | 7 | 16.5 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 0.39 | 0.09 | 6.0 |
| Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota | 27 | 16 | 23.9 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 0.33 | 0.00 | 9.4 |
| Asjha Jones | 23 | 23 | 31.6 | 5.9 | 2.4 | 0.87 | 0.57 | 16.7 |
| Erin Phillips | 32 | 18 | 23.1 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.34 | 0.09 | 8.1 |
| Barbara Turner | 7 | 0 | 20.6 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 0.71 | 0.00 | 4.0 |
| Lindsay Whalen | 34 | 34 | 29.4 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 1.26 | 0.15 | 12.3 |
| Tan White | 30 | 15 | 22.0 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 1.17 | 0.30 | 9.5 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 24 | 1 | 15.7 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.38 | 0.13 | 4.4 |

### Team statistics

| Team | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| Connecticut Sun | .406 | .316 | .747 | 34.8 | 17.9 | 7.4 | 3.8 | 13.3 | 19.9 | 78.0 |
| Opponents | .426 | .322 | .792 | 37.5 | 15.4 | 7.3 | 3.7 | 16.2 | 20.1 | 78.1 |

## Awards and honors

* Asjha Jones was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 20, 2009.
* Sandrine Gruda was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 17, 2009.
* Asjha Jones was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as an Eastern Conference reserve.

## Attendance

* A sellout for a basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena is 9,518.
Regular Season Attendance :
| Year | Average: Home | Average: Away | High | Low | Sellouts | Total for Year | WNBA Game Average |
| 2009 | 6,794 (12th) | 7,761 (10th) | 9,047 | 5,675 | 0 | 115,496 | 8,039 |