UNCASVILLE — The Connecticut Sun entered the season prepared for a rebuilding year, expecting that the team’s longstanding residence in the top half of the WNBA standings would be almost impossible to maintain after reconstructing their roster from scratch.

General manager Morgan Tuck didn’t foresee the squad entering the second half of the season with just three wins, but the former UConn star said no one is hitting the panic button inside the building. As much as gut instinct might call for radical changes amid the worst start in franchise history, Tuck said the Sun entered 2025 with a plan that they’re committed to following regardless of how their record looks with the league’s Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching.

“We have a lot that I would say we need to improve on, but I think the biggest thing is that we knew this year was going to be a struggle,” Tuck said. “Obviously we want to see the wins come and you want to look at all the options that you always do especially coming to the deadline, but I think we’re also very bought into the youth of our team and understanding that the wins might not be there, but I’m still very optimistic in what our team can become.”

Connecticut also might’ve found more success early on if it weren’t for the extended absence of Marina Mabrey. The star guard suffered a left knee injury late in the second quarter when Sun hosted the Dallas Wings on June 20, and though she returned to play the second half of that matchup, she was ruled out for two to four weeks four days later. She missed nine games because of the injury, and the team went 1-8 during that stretch.

Mabrey is probable to return in Connecticut’s first game since the break against the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night.

The Sun’s lone win without Mabrey came on July 9 against the Seattle Storm, snapping a 10-game losing streak that set a record for the longest in franchise history. The team lost by an average margin of 20 points during that slump, but in the last four games before the All-Star break it lose three times by an average of just 8.6 points.

“When you have someone (out) that’s as impactful as Marina, who plays almost the whole game every game, it provides a lot of opportunity for other people that they get to step up, play more minutes,” Tuck said. “I know Marina hates it. She hates being out, and it kills her a little bit, but I think it’s also been good for some of our young guards to get a feel for what it’s like to have to step up and make plays, be locked in on defense … But we’re very excited that Marina’s coming back.”

It’s easy to pinpoint what sparked the improvement, because the win over Seattle came in the team’s second game with standout rookie Leila Lacan on the floor. The 21-year-old guard, who was originally selected by the Sun in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft, spent the first half of the 2025 season back home in France competing with her national team in EuroBasket, and she established herself as an impact player as soon as she set foot on American soil.

Lacan logged eight points, four rebounds and three assists with a single turnover in just 19 minutes against the Storm, and her playing rapidly ramped up after that. She scored a career-high 19 points with three steals in the Sun’s heartbreaker against the Indiana Fever on July 15, and the rookie is also spending most of her time on the court guarding the opponent’s best player. She held Fever superstar Caitlin Clark without a field goal for three and a half quarters in front of 19,156 fans at TD Garden, and 14-year veteran Tina Charles gushed after the game about Lacan’s instant fit with the team.

“She’s adjusted tremendously, like no other player that I’ve seen come to a team in the middle of the season,” Charles said last week. “She’s been doing this for a long time overseas, and now you all are able to witness her greatness. I know her future is bright in this league, and I’m very thankful and honored to be able to be able to take the floor with her.”

Questions about Connecticut Sun’s future loom large over sellout at Boston’s TD Garden

Lacan currently has the best offensive and defensive rating on the roster of any player averaging at least 10 minutes per game, and she is second in effective field goal percentage despite shooting just 18.8% from 3-point range. But she has yet to share the court with Mabrey, so the challenge for the Sun coming out of the All-Star break will be to readjust and build chemistry in the new lineup.

Connecticut also added another member French national team to the roster during the break, signing 30-year-old guard Migna Touré to a seven-day contract on Monday. Touré has competed professionally in France since 2012, and though she has never appeared in a WNBA game, she got her first taste of the league participating in the Golden State Valkyries’ training camp this season. She’ll make her debut after just three days of practice in Connecticut against the Sparks.

“I think when we’re just looking at the trend that we’re on, I think that we’re making some progress, so you want people that can obviously fit into the system, that can bring some defensive energy,” Tuck said. “She’s been a pro for a long time, so I think just watching and seeing what we needed, we felt like we needed a guard with some size and athleticism and she was the one that fit the most … We’re making little tweaks and things as needed, but this year is about resetting and making some progress, and I think that our second half of the season will look a little different than the first.”

How to watch Connecticut Sun vs Los Angeles Sparks

Site: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville

Time/date: 7 p.m., Wednesday

Team records: Sun 3-19, Sparks 9-14

Last meeting: 92-88 Sparks, July 13 in Los Angeles

TV: NBC Sports Boston

Streaming: WNBA League Pass

Originally Published: July 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM EDT