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.

2009 Connecticut Sun season
CoachMike Thibault
ArenaMohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,794 per game
Results
Record16–18 (.471)
Place6th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team Leaders
PointsJones (16.7)
ReboundsGruda (6.3)
AssistsWhalen (4.6)
Media
TelevisionWCTX

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

[1]

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.

[2]

Date Trade
March 14, 2008 To Connecticut Sun To Minnesota Lynx
Minnesota's second-round 2009 Draft pick and Tamika Raymond Connecticut's second-round 2009 Draft pick and Kristen Rasmussen

Free agents

Roster
Connecticut Sun roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
C 33 United States Black, Chante 6' 5" (1.96m) 188 lb (85kg) Duke
PG 4 United States Brown, Kiesha 5' 10" (1.78m) 134 lb (61kg) Georgia
SF 41 United States Gardin, Kerri 6' 1" (1.85m) 165 lb (75kg) Virginia Tech
C 7 France Gruda, Sandrine 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) France
G/F 1 United States Holt, Amber 6' 0" (1.83m) 167 lb (76kg) Middle Tennessee State
SG 10 Latvia Jēkabsone-Žogota, Anete 5' 9" (1.75m) 180 lb (82kg) Latvia
PF 15 United States Jones, Asjha 6' 2" (1.88m) 198 lb (90kg) Connecticut
PG 31 Australia Phillips, Erin 5' 7" (1.7m) 162 lb (73kg) Australia
PG 13 United States Whalen, Lindsay 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) Minnesota
SG 20 United States White, Tan 5' 7" (1.7m) 154 lb (70kg) Mississippi State
PF 00 United States Whitmore, Tamika 6' 2" (1.88m) 190 lb (86kg) Memphis
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Athletic trainer
Strength and conditioning coach
  • United States Jodi Hopkins (Ohio)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Season standings
Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
Indiana Fever x2212.647–14–38–917–5
Atlanta Dream x1816.5294.012–56–1110–12
Detroit Shock x1816.5294.011–67–1011–11
Washington Mystics x1618.4716.011–65–1210–12
Chicago Sky o1618.4716.012–54–1310–12
Connecticut Sun o1618.4716.012–54–139–12
New York Liberty o1321.3829.08–95–128–13

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
5,578		1-0
2May 277:30pm@ Atlanta73-76Phillips (18)Black, Ervin (6)Swanier, Whalen (3)Philips Arena
4,980		1-1
3May 317:00pmLos Angeles77-80Phillips (11)Littles (8)Phillips, Swanier, Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,630		1-2

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
7,191		0-1
2June 74:00pm@ New YorkWCTX66-57Whalen (14)Whalen (12)Brown, Cirone, Whalen, Whitmore (2)Madison Square Garden
13,397		1-1
3June 143:00pmAtlanta62-67Whalen (16)Black (9)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,429		1-2
4June 168:00pm@ Chicago75-78Jones, Whitmore (16)Jones (5)Whalen (8)UIC Pavilion
2,396		1-3
5June 197:00pmChicago91-61Jones (17)Gardin (11)Gardin (7)Mohegan Sun Arena
5,892		2-3
6June 213:00pmSan AntonioNBA TV
WCTX		71-58Jones (19)Black (8)Jones, Turner, Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,928		3-3
7June 277:00pmAtlanta82-68Jones (24)Jones (12)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,264		4-3
July
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
8July 27:00pm@ IndianaNBA TV
FSI		53-67Whalen (11)Black (8)Brown, Whalen, White (3)Conseco Fieldhouse
6,468		4-4
9July 56:00pm@ Detroit95-92 (OT)Gruda (23)Gardin, Gruda (6)Jones (5)Palace of Auburn Hills
6,981		5-4
10July 77:30pm@ Atlanta67-72Jones, White (14)Gruda, Jones, White (6)Brown (4)Philips Arena
6,225		5-5
11July 117:00pmDetroitNBA TV
WCTX		77-79 (OT)Jones (23)Jones (10)Whalen (3)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,342		5-6
12July 147:00pmLos AngelesESPN282-71Jones (24)Gruda (6)Jones, Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,612		6-6
13July 178:00pm@ San Antonio72-64Jones (17)Gruda, Whalen (7)Jones, Whalen (5)AT&T Center
9,524		7-6
14July 193:00pmIndiana67-61Whalen (15)Gruda (9)Whalen (6)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,517		8-6
15July 227:00pmSacramento83-75Jones (28)Jones (10)Phillips (7)Mohegan Sun Arena
5,675		9-6
16July 287:30pmPhoenixESPN280-95Jekabsone-Zogota (15)Whalen (8)Holt, Whalen (4)Mohegan Sun Arena
7,739		9-7
17July 308:00pm@ IndianaFSI85-94 (OT)Jones (21)Gruda (10)5 players (3)Conseco Fieldhouse
6,538		9-8
August
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
18August 17:00pm@ ChicagoNBA TV
WCTX		72-84White (16)White (6)Jekabsone-Zogota (6)UIC Pavilion
3,071		9-9
19August 26:00pm@ Detroit83-65Whalen (22)Gruda (8)Whalen (4)Palace of Auburn Hills
7,814		10-9
20August 78:00pm@ MinnesotaNBA TV
FSN-N		88-95Gruda (21)Gruda, Jones (6)Jekabsone-Zogota (7)Target Center
8,134		10-10
21August 93:00pmWashington96-67Whalen (16)Holt (8)Whalen (5)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,528		11-10
22August 137:00pmSeattle64-53Gruda (14)Jones (10)Whalen (7)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,983		12-10
23August 147:00pm@ Washington89-91 (2OT)Jones (23)Gruda (10)Whalen (5)Verizon Center
9,738		12-11
24August 197:00pmNew York74-69Whalen (20)Whalen (10)White (6)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,050		13-11
25August 217:30pm@ New YorkNBA TV
MSG		83-85 (OT)Gruda (24)Gruda (12)Whalen (7)Madison Square Garden
9,355		13-12
26August 227:00pmMinnesota98-94Gruda, Whalen (21)Gruda (9)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena
7,803		14-12
27August 257:00pmDetroit70-90Gruda (19)Gardin (7)Whalen (8)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,811		14-13
28August 2710:00pm@ Seattle74-86Whalen (18)Gardin (8)Whalen (5)KeyArena
6,588		14-14
29August 2910:00pm@ PhoenixNBA TV
WCTX		84-95Jekabsone-Zogota (23)Gardin (13)Brown, Gardin, Whalen (3)US Airways Center
9,977		14-15
30August 309:30pm@ Los AngelesNBA TV
FSNW		81-91Jekabsone-Zogota (21)Gruda (7)Whalen (9)STAPLES Center
11,072		14-16
September
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
31September 110:00pm@ Sacramento70-90Gruda, White (13)Gruda (5)Brown, Phillips (3)ARCO Arena
6,015		14-17
32September 47:00pmNew YorkNBA TV
MSG		88-85 (OT)Jekabsone-Zogota (23)Jekabsone-Zogota (7)Whalen (7)Mohegan Sun Arena
6,685		15-17
33September 117:00pm@ Atlanta64-88Gruda (16)Gruda (6)4 players (2)Philips Arena
8,644		15-18
34September 133:00pmIndianaWCTX95-85Gardin (23)Gardin (8)Phillips (7)Mohegan Sun Arena
9,047		16-18
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
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage  TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per game Team leader League leader

Player Statistics
Player GP GS MPG RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Chante Black 33813.03.20.20.390.822.9
Kiesha Brown 34011.61.61.10.380.093.8
Kristi Cirone 405.81.31.00.500.001.8
Lauren Ervin 807.01.60.00.130.002.0
Kerri Gardin 332318.14.31.20.760.735.5
Sandrine Gruda 262531.26.31.30.881.5813.5
Amber Holt 23716.53.21.90.390.096.0
Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota 271623.92.92.20.330.009.4
Asjha Jones 232331.65.92.40.870.5716.7
Erin Phillips 321823.13.22.11.340.098.1
Barbara Turner 7020.62.12.00.710.004.0
Lindsay Whalen 343429.44.64.61.260.1512.3
Tan White 301522.02.72.21.170.309.5
Tamika Whitmore 24115.72.21.00.380.134.4

Team Statistics
Team FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
Connecticut Sun .406.316.74734.817.97.43.813.319.978.0
Opponents .426.322.79237.515.47.33.716.220.178.1

Awards and honors

Attendance
Regular Season Attendance
Year Average: Home Average: Away High Low Sellouts Total for Year WNBA Game Average
20096,794 (12th)7,761 (10th)9,0475,6750115,4968,039

References
  1. WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board Archived 2009-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Transactions
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