The 2020 Connecticut Sun season was the 22nd season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. It will also be the 18th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season tipped off on July 26, 2020, versus the Minnesota Lynx.

This WNBA season was originally going to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games. However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a plan approved on June 15, the league held a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, which started on July 24.

The Sun's season started slowly when the team lost its first five games. They recovered to win four of their next five and were 4–7 at the season's halfway mark. The Sun won six of the next nine to secure a playoff spot with two games to go in the season. The Sun last the final two games of the season to finish 10–12. That earned them the seventh seed in the playoffs.

As the seventh seed, the Sun played in the First Round against the sixth seeded Chicago Sky. The Sun won the game 94–81 and advanced to the Second Round. There they faced off against the third seed Los Angeles Sparks. Again, they triumphed as underdogs, this time 73–59. The win saw them advance to the Semifinals, where they matched up against the first seed Las Vegas Aces. The Sun won games one and three of the best-of-five series, but could not close out games four or five, and lost the series 2–3 to end their season.

WNBA draft

Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country 2 23 Kaila Charles Maryland 3 35 Juicy Landrum Baylor

Trades/Roster Changes DateDetails February 10, 2020 Re-signed F Jonquel Jones Traded F Morgan Tuck and Connecticut's 1st Round Draft Pick for Seattle's 1st Round Draft Pick Re-signed F Natisha Hiedeman February 11, 2020 Traded the 7th and the 10th picks in the 2020 WNBA draft and one first-round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft to Phoenix Mercury for F DeWanna Bonner. February 15, 2020 Re-signed G Bria Holmes February 19, 2020 Acquired G Briann January and a second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for Courtney Williams February 24, 2020 Acquired F Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis in exchange for a second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft February 25, 2020 Acquired the Minnesota Lynx's 2nd round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft in exchange for G Rachel Banham. Signed G Jazmon Gwathmey to Training Camp Contract February 26, 2020 Signed F Valériane Ayayi to Training Camp Contract March 13, 2020 Signed G Jacki Gemelos to Training Camp Contract March 14, 2020 Signed F Megan Huff to Training Camp Contract June 22, 2020 F Jonquel Jones opts to sit out of the 2020 season. June 23, 2020 Signed F Beatrice Mompremier. June 25, 2020 Signed G Jacki Gemelos on permanent contract.

Roster

Game log

Regular season

| 1 | July 26 | Minnesota Lynx | L 69–77 | A. Thomas (20) | Tied (8) | Tied (4) | IMG Academy0 | 0–1 |- | 2 | July 28 | Washington Mystics | 89–94 | Bonner (29) | A. Thomas (11) | Bonner (5) | IMG Academy0 | 0–2 |- | 3 | July 30 | Los Angeles Sparks | L 76–81 | Bonner (34) | A. Thomas (18) | A. Thomas (8) | IMG Academy0 | 0–3

| 4 | August 1 | Minnesota Lynx | L 69–78 | Bonner (28) | Tied (7) | J. Thomas (4) | IMG Academy0 | 0–4 |- | 5 | August 4 | Seattle Storm | L 74–87 | Jones (20) | A. Thomas (13) | Hiedeman (5) | IMG Academy0 | 0–5 |- | 6 | August 6 | Dallas Wings | W 91–68 | Jones (17) | A. Thomas (10) | J. Thomas (9) | IMG Academy0 | 1–5 |- | 7 | August 8 | Chicago Sky | L 93–100 | J. Thomas (22) | A. Thomas (6) | J. Thomas (6) | IMG Academy0 | 1–6 |- | 8 | August 10 | Atlanta Dream | W 93–82 | A. Thomas (21) | Bonner (9) | J. Thomas (7) | IMG Academy0 | 2–6 |- | 9 | August 12 | Dallas Wings | W 70–66 | Bonner (18) | A. Thomas (7) | Tied (4) | IMG Academy0 | 3–6 |- | 10 | August 14 | Chicago Sky | W 77–74 | Bonner (19) | A. Thomas (10) | A. Thomas (8) | IMG Academy0 | 4–6 |- | 11 | August 16 | Seattle Storm | L 72–95 | J. Thomas (17) | Jones (11) | A. Thomas (6) | IMG Academy0 | 4–7 |- | 12 | August 18 | Indiana Fever | W 84–62 | Bonner (28) | A. Thomas (11) | Tied (6) | IMG Academy0 | 5–7 |- | 13 | August 20 | Las Vegas Aces | 78–99 | Tied (15) | A. Thomas (7) | A. Thomas (7) | IMG Academy0 | 5–8 |- | 14 | August 22 | New York Liberty | W 82–65 | A. Thomas (25) | Bonner (12) | Bonner (6) | IMG Academy0 | 6–8 |- | 15 | August 28 | Los Angeles Sparks | W 80–76 | A. Thomas (19) | A. Thomas (9) | J. Thomas (6) | IMG Academy0 | 6–9 |- | 16 | August 30 | Washington Mystics | W 76–63 | Bonner (20) | Tied (11) | A. Thomas (8) | IMG Academy0 | 7–9

| 17 | September 1 | New York Liberty | W 70–65 | Bonner (27) | Bonner (12) | A. Thomas (4) | IMG Academy0 | 8–9 |- | 18 | September 3 | Las Vegas Aces | L 78–93 | Bonner (22) | Mompremier (16) | January (5) | IMG Academy0 | 8–10 |- | 19 | September 5 | Indiana Fever | W 96–77 | Bonner (22) | 3 tied (6) | J. Thomas (7) | IMG Academy0 | 9–10 |- | 20 | September 7 | Phoenix Mercury | W 85–70 | Bonner (25) | A. Thomas (9) | A. Thomas (9) | IMG Academy0 | 10–10 |- | 21 | September 9 | Phoenix Mercury | L 95–100 | Bonner (32) | A. Thomas (17) | A. Thomas (5) | IMG Academy0 | 10–11 |- | 22 | September 11 | Atlanta Dream | L 75–82 | Bonner (17) | A. Thomas (9) | Hiedeman (4) | IMG Academy0 | 10–12

Playoffs

| 1 | September 15 | Chicago Sky | W 94–81 | A. Thomas (28) | A. Thomas (13) | A. Thomas (8) | IMG Academy | 1–0

| 1 | September 17 | Los Angeles Sparks | 73–59 | A. Thomas (19) | Bonner (13) | J. Thomas (6) | IMG Academy | 1–0

| 1 | September 20 | Las Vegas Aces | W 87–62 | J. Thomas (31) | Bonner (8) | A. Thomas (5) | IMG Academy | 1–0 |- | 2 | September 22 | Las Vegas Aces | L 75–83 | Bonner (23) | Mompremier (9) | J. Thomas (4) | IMG Academy | 1–1 |- | 3 | September 24 | Las Vegas Aces | W 77–68 | A. Thomas (23) | A. Thomas (12) | J. Thomas (6) | IMG Academy | 2–1 |- | 4 | September 27 | Las Vegas Aces | L 75–84 | J. Thomas (25) | Bonner (15) | J. Thomas (6) | IMG Academy | 2–2 |- | 5 | September 29 | Las Vegas Aces | L 63–66 | A. Thomas (22) | Jones (12) | Bonner (6) | IMG Academy | 2–3

Standings

Playoffs

Statistics

Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG DeWanna Bonner 22 22 33.3 42.2 25.2 89.5 7.8 3.0 1.7 0.5 19.7 Alyssa Thomas 21 21 32.8 50.0 0 68.6 9.0 4.8 2.0 0.3 15.5 Brionna Jones 21 21 26.1 60.5 100 69.1 5.6 1.0 1.7 0.7 11.2 Jasmine Thomas 19 19 25.5 40.4 33.3 91.3 1.7 4.0 1.3 0.3 10.2 Natisha Hiedeman 22 4 18.5 35.4 35.9 70.0 1.9 1.9 0.4 0 6.1 Kaila Charles 21 7 17.9 41.2 36.7 71.0 2.6 0.9 0.8 0.3 5.4 Briann January 13 10 23.3 29.3 36.7 83.3 1.2 3.4 0.6 0.2 5.0 Bria Holmes 18 4 16.2 35.7 33.3 66.7 1.8 1.1 0.7 0.3 4.9 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 16 0 10.3 29.7 25.5 57.1 1.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 3.4 Essence Carson 11 2 11.2 32.5 28.6 75.0 1.5 0.6 0.4 0.1 3.2 Theresa Plaisance 13 0 6.9 37.9 29.4 83.3 1.0 0.1 0.4 0.2 2.5 Beatrice Mompremier 21 0 8.9 42.6 0 44.4 3.3 0.1 0.2 0.6 2.3

Awards and honors Recipient Award Date awarded Ref. DeWanna Bonner WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week August 17, 2020 Alyssa Thomas August 31, 2020 DeWanna Bonner September 8, 2020 Alyssa Thomas 1st Team All-Defense September 29, 2020 DeWanna Bonner All-WNBA Second Team October 4, 2020

References

External links

Connecticut Sun at ESPN.com