# 2016 Connecticut Sun season

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.
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
### WNBA draft

| 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

| Date | Details |
| February 3, 2016 | Traded Elizabeth Williams to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the 4th Overall Pick in the 2016 WNBA draft |
| 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. |
| 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. |

## Roster

Source:

## Game log
### Preseason

2016 pre-season game log :
May: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
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

2016 game log Total: 14–20 (Home: 8–9; Road: 6–11) :
May: 1–5 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
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)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
7June 3AtlantaL 77–83Alex Bentley (16)Kelsey Bone (7)Jasmine Thomas (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 4,5411–6
8June 5IndianaL 77–88Alyssa Thomas (20)Jonquel Jones (9)Rachel Banham (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,3461–7
9June 10SeattleW 77–76Morgan Tuck (20)Alyssa Thomas (9)Alyssa Thomas (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 8,0752–7
10June 12@ AtlantaL 87–93Jasmine Thomas (19)Bentley, Ogwumike, Tuck (6)Bentley, Thomas (5)Philips Arena 4,4862–8
11June 14WashingtonL 106–109 3OTAlex Bentley (31)Kelsey Bone (11)Camille Little (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 4,4422–9
12June 16New YorkL 72–80Alex Bentley (16)Kelsey Bone (7)Kelsey Bone (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 4,7862–10
13June 19San AntonioW 90–83Alex Bentley (29)Jones, J. Thomas (9)Jasmine Thomas (10)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,5963–10
14June 24@ SeattleL 81–98Alex Bentley (13)Alyssa Thomas (6)Alex Bentley (4)KeyArena 6,5683–11
15June 26@ Los AngelesL 73–80Chiney Ogwumike (16)Alyssa Thomas (9)Alyssa Thomas (7)Staples Center 9,4413–12
16June 29@ PhoenixL 75–86Alex Bentley (20)Jonquel Jones (9)Alex Bentley (6)Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,5513–13 :
July
: 5–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 4–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17July 2@ DallasW 86–83Alex Bentley (24)Chiney Ogwumike (9)Jasmine Thomas (7)College Park Center 5,1084–13
18July 7MinnesotaW 93–83Alex Bentley (24)Chiney Ogwumike (7)Jasmine Thomas (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,7395–13
19July 10AtlantaL 63–67Alyssa Thomas (19)Ogwumike, J. Thomas (5)Alex Bentley (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,8575–14
20July 13@ IndianaW 86–64Chiney Ogwumike (20)Chiney Ogwumike (8)Jasmine Thomas (6)Bankers Life Fieldhouse 12,2726–14
21July 15Los AngelesL 92–98Alyssa Thomas (17)Chiney Ogwumike (13)Bentley, J. Thomas, Little (5)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,4306–15
22July 17@ New YorkL 76–83Chiney Ogwumike (18)Chiney Ogwumike (10)Jasmine Thomas (6)Madison Square Garden 9,4646–16
23July 20@ DallasW 89–78Chiney Ogwumike (26)Chiney Ogwumike (15)Morgan Tuck (5)College Park Center 4,8737–16
24July 22@ ChicagoW 94–89Alex Bentley (21)Jonquel Jones (10)Jasmine Thomas (8)Allstate Arena 6,8938–16 :
August
: 2–1 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
25August 26MinnesotaW 84–80Alyssa Thomas (15)Chiney Ogwumike (10)Jasmine Thomas (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 7,3819–16
26August 28@ AtlantaL 73–87Chiney Ogwumike (24)Courtney Williams (7)Jasmine Thomas (4)Philips Arena 7,0559–17
27August 30San AntonioW 89–62Alex Bentley (21)Alyssa Thomas (7)Camille Little (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,29110–17 :
September
: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
28September 2PhoenixW 87–74Chiney Ogwumike (22)Chiney Ogwumike (10)Jasmine Thomas (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,70911–17
29September 4@ MinnesotaL 79–93Alex Bentley (16)Jonquel Jones (11)Alex Bentley (6)Target Center 7,63211–18
30September 9@ New YorkL 82–89Ogwumike, Williams (20)Chiney Ogwumike (9)Jasmine Thomas (4)Madison Square Garden 9,48211–19
31September 11Chicago SkyL 86–96Jasmine Thomas (20)Chiney Ogwumike (10)Jasmine Thomas (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,62011–20
32September 13IndianaW 89–87Jasmine Thomas (21)A. Thomas, J. Thomas (5)Jasmine Thomas (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 4,40712–20
33September 16DallasW 107–74Little, Williams (15)Chiney Ogwumike (13)Jasmine Thomas (6)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,22813–20
34September 18@ WashingtonW 87–78Jonquel Jones (21)Ogwumike, A. Thomas (10)Jasmine Thomas (10)Verizon Center 8,99114–20 :
2016 season schedule :

## Standings

| Eastern Conference vte | 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

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
| Jasmine Thomas | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | September 19, 2016 | |
| Jasmine Thomas | All-Defensive Second Team | September 30, 2016 | |

## Statistics
### Regular season

| 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 |