{"id":163331,"date":"2025-09-17T14:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T14:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/163331\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T14:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T14:27:08","slug":"how-highs-and-lows-filled-the-connecticut-suns-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/163331\/","title":{"rendered":"How highs and lows filled the Connecticut Sun’s 2025 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

A complete overhaul to their roster forced the franchise to find a new identity going into the 2025 WNBA season. In December, the Sun hired first-time head coach Rachid Meziane and, with just two returners in Marina Mabrey<\/a> and Olivia Nelson-Ododa<\/a>, added to their roster in February by acquiring a shifty guard in Lindsay Allen<\/a> and bringing back one of the most dominant bigs in the game, Tina Charles<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Later that month, the Sun then denied Mabrey\u2019s trade request<\/a> and, instead, looked to build around her fiery spirit, tenacity and three-point shooting ability that earned her the nickname Money Mabrey. They also signed 2024 WNBA draft pick Leila Lacan<\/a>, who helped the French national team win silver in the 2024 Olympics, to a rookie-scale contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In April, the Sun also looked ahead at their future and drafted Aneesah Morrow<\/a> and Saniya Rivers<\/a> in the first round of the 2025 WNBA draft, as well as Rayah Marshall<\/a> out of USC with the No. 25 pick. Just a week before the season started, they signed another relentlessly tough vet<\/a>, Bria Hartley<\/a>, who had bounced back from multiple knee injuries, to a training camp contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b\u201cOur main goal is to rebuild a culture first,\u201d Meziane told The Next then.<\/a> \u201cWe are not expected to dominate early and to win all of our games. \u2026 But right now we are starting a new cycle, so I don\u2019t think that we will talk about winning all our games, so it\u2019s a good thing for us. It would put too much pressure on us. As everybody knows, a lot of players left the team. So we are rebuilding. So just to be patient and build a new culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sun won just two of their first 17 games before the arrival of Lacan \u2014 against Indiana and Atlanta \u2014but even with her addition in July, it was evident that what the Sun truly needed was a complete reset. So, they brought sage onto the practice court and dialed in on building a sense of togetherness and camaraderie as a team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The IX Basketball, a 24\/7\/365 women\u2019s basketball newsroom powered by The Next
The IX Basketball<\/a>: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX Sports<\/a>. 24\/7\/365 women\u2019s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery team has its strengths and personalities,\u201d Meziane told The Next in July. \u201cI feel that for us \u2026 to be efficient is to play together, to swing the ball and try to create a bigger advantage and find open teammates. We don\u2019t have a one-on-one player; some can do it, but not with the consistency we want. \u2026 We need to be patient [and] maybe try to play differently. Today, we have to think together and play as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everything shifted when the Sun beat the Seattle Storm on July 9, winning just their third game of the season. What they proved, not just to the league but to themselves, was that they could compete \u2014 and win \u2014 against a playoff contender and thrive within Meziane\u2019s system. <\/p>\n

Team-first basketball, consistency and energy are all words he has used throughout the season, but what that manifested into for the Sun was chemistry off the court, too. They formed bonds, made TikToks and found meaningful friendships that showed promise of a team not only on the mend, but on a new path forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think perspective is everything,\u201d Mabrey said during the team\u2019s exit interviews Sept. 11. \u201cMaybe you don\u2019t get exactly what you want every time, but at the end of the day, I get to do this job. I\u2019m blessed to be in this league, to be the player that I am in this league, especially looking back seven years ago, when nobody thought I\u2019d be on the team very long, slash, ever make an impact, slash, be one of the best players. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think that there\u2019s a pride in that, and I\u2019ll never step on the court and let somebody just cook me or my team willingly, so, just because I didn\u2019t get what I want, I think just going out there, and maybe you\u2019re not having everything your way, but there\u2019s a lot of joy in what I got out of this year, and I learned a lot about myself. So I feel like God just kind of put me in this position to keep me here, because that\u2019s where I belong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Connecticut Sun huddle before a game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Sept. 8, 2025. (Photo credit: Chris Poss | The Next) <\/p>\n

Mabrey credited the rookies for shifting her perspective, too, especially when she realized how her teammates were handling her approach initially:\u00a0\u201cWe had different personnel, and I realized that at first they weren\u2019t really responding to the way I was doing it,\u201d she said. \u201cSo just being self-aware and understanding, okay, this isn\u2019t working. I\u2019m going to try a different way. Maybe I need to change myself, or look in the mirror and see what I can do better, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then also making genuine relationships. That was a really big part of my leadership style that I think has helped me realize that the more the players know me as a person, the more willing they are to receive what I\u2019m saying on the court. And I gotta say, I gotta give to the rookies. They\u2019re the ones that made me realize that I need to change, that it\u2019s not working. And they weren\u2019t afraid to tell me, \u2018No, this is not it.\u2019 I appreciate them, and I think that that is a big reason why I was able to step into myself a little bit this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers is one of the rookies Mabrey has formed a deep connection with, all while bringing an ever-present smile and joy to the Sun\u2019s locker room, despite going through her own personal battles after the loss of her mother. <\/p>\n

When the Sun returned from the All-Star break, they looked like a completely different squad, and the wins, though they were few, came when they battled night in and night out. They also had fun while hyping each other up, hitting the \u2018Tina Shimmy\u2019 when celebrating big plays and, eventually, dancing their way through a three-game winning streak in August and amassing a total of eight wins in the second half of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of the things I enjoyed about this team, celebrating the little things within such a long-winded season,\u201d said Aaliyah Edwards<\/a>, who joined the team in August via a trade. \u201cI did come and enjoy the team on the tail end, but I think that I was welcomed with open arms, and there was just such a refreshing vibe to this team when joining. So I did appreciate those little moments, those little celebrations, even just Tina dancing in the middle of our dance circle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With an 11-33 record to end the season, the Sun, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016, will carry this momentum into the offseason. Some, like Mabrey and Rivers, will compete in Unrivaled, while Morrow will take her double-double rebounding prowess to Athletes Unlimited. Charles, who will also be playing in AU, announced at the last home game against the Atlanta Dream that she will be returning next season to rock an orange and white Sun jersey in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for where the team will be located, that is currently the subject of headlines regarding the potential sale (and possible legal concerns<\/a>) of the franchise. Throughout the season, there were numerous sightings of fans holding signs that read, \u2018KEEP THE SUN IN Connecticut.\u2019 One of those signs was also hung up on the wall in the women\u2019s restroom at Mohegan Sun.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell what happens next, but one thing is certain: the Sun ended the season on a high note and with a sense of togetherness, just like Meziane had hoped they would.\u00a0The team even celebrated the end of the season at the Vista Lounge in Mohegan. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was like our first time coming together as a team and celebrating, so honestly, we had a good time,\u201d Rivers told the media. \u201cThe DJ was great. We just got on the dance floor [and] people who never danced the whole season was on the dance floor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A complete overhaul to their roster forced the franchise to find a new identity going into the 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[53534,27040,4384,27041,99,27042,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-163331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-aaliyah-edwards","9":"tag-aneesah-morrow","10":"tag-connecticut-sun","11":"tag-saniya-rivers","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tina-charles","14":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}