{"id":42342,"date":"2025-07-28T10:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T10:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/42342\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T10:02:09","slug":"ex-uconn-womens-star-could-be-wnbas-best-comeback-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/42342\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-UConn women’s star could be WNBA’s best comeback story"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNCASVILLE \u2014 Bria Hartley<\/a> got started early, a steal, a couple of 3-pointers<\/a> in transition in the opening minutes. This was the start of a good day for the Connecticut Sun<\/a>, and their stirring individual comeback story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you could see it in my demeanor, in the way I carry myself on the court,\u201d Hartley said Sunday, after scoring 15 points in Connecticut\u2019s 95-64 victory over Golden State. \u201cI just seem more sure of myself, I\u2019m not as uncertain in most moments. So I just want to continue to build on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hartley, 32, a former UConn standout, hadn\u2019t played in the WNBA for nearly three years when she showed up near the end of training camp.<\/a> No guarantees. Not certain how much of her game had been stolen by two torn left ACLs, and other assorted injuries requiring five surgeries in four years. She left the league as a member of the Sun in 2022, after tearing her ACL the second time, and had come back slowly with some time overseas.<\/p>\n

Dom Amore: WNBA players remain optimistic, but united, firm in contract talks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But she showed enough when camp broke to make the team, a veteran who could help coach Rachid Meziane, with whom she was familiar, translate his concepts from French to English. Hartley could still shoot; she had to prove she could get to her spots on offense, and guard on defense. On Sunday, she was 4-for-8 on threes<\/a>, 3-for-4 from the line with three assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith her on the court, we know she can force the defense to stretch,\u201d Meziane said<\/a>. \u201cAnd we can find our post players. The more she is getting in shape,\u00a0 the more she can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the Sun (4-20) remain at the bottom of the league, despite Sunday\u2019s where-did-that-come-from performance,<\/a> their best offensive and defensive outcomes of the season, Hartley found opportunity amid what\u2019s been happening, and she could be the WNBA\u2019s comeback player of the year.<\/a> She\u2019s averaging 9.1 points and three assists per game, but\u00a0 trending up \u2014 13.7 points in July, and 16.7 points over the last four games. Hard to think of a better candidate right now.<\/p>\n

After years of stability and playoff contention, this has been a year of upheaval at Mohegan Sun. All five starters left in the offseason, along with coach Stephanie White. The owners have retained a firm to \u201cexplore options,\u201d including the sale of part, or all of the team. This week, season-ticket holders were told the team will remain in Connecticut next season, with subscriptions now available for purchase, but they did play to a sellout crowd in Boston for the second year in a row and games, such as Sunday\u2019s, are televised on Boston\u2019s NBC station. Overarching all of that are the contentious negotiations between the players union and league management, and the possibility of another free-agent free-for-all in the near future.<\/p>\n

But when you\u2019ve been through what Bria Hartley\u2019s been through, it\u2019s easy to be where your shoes are.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we come here to play basketball, ya know?\u201d Hartley said. \u201cRegardless of the wins and losses, we want to be one percent better every day. When you focus on those little things, then the big picture just formulates itself on its own. If you focus on the big picture, you get distracted and worry about the wrong things. So the biggest thing is to focus on the small things and what we can control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connecticut Sun to remain at Mohegan Sun in 2026 as ownership evaluates strategic investment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Hartley, who took the Sue Bird route from Long Island to Storrs, is used to winning. Her UConn teams were 144-11, went to the Final Four all four of her seasons and won two championships. In addition, she won gold medals all over the world with USA Basketball before entering The W as the No. 7 overall pick in 2014.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s played for Washington, New York, Seattle and Indiana \u2013 someone would always to be looking for a shooter. Hartley was having her best season, averaging 14.6 points in 2020, when she tore her ACL the first time. She played only 16 games in 2021 and 22, reaching the WNBA Finals with the Mercury in \u201921. Waived by Indiana, she signed a rest-of-the-season deal with the Sun in 2022, but tearing her ACL only three games in.<\/p>\n

Hartley played in Turkey during the 2023 and 24 seasons. This spring, she was ready to try again in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first got here, I was just trying to\u00a0get\u00a0here,\u201d Hartley said. \u201cI had a conversation with the coaches, about not being complacent and taking more ownership. I think I had to build on that through the season and build my confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

She scored 11 points in 19 minutes in the season opener, a loss to Washington, and got regular minutes off the bench, bringing the 3-point threat. Hartley broke out with 19 vs. Seattle on June 27.<\/p>\n

On July 13, she had one of her best games ever, 25 points and six assists in 33 minutes, posting afterward on social media,<\/a> \u201cAfter five surgeries in four years! Two ACLs a year and 11 months apart. Grateful and all the glory goes to Him!\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire\u2019s still there, too. She had 16 points in 18 minutes against Los Angeles on July 24 before she was ejected in the third quarter, and she saw the negative impact that had.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t saying\u00a0nothin\u2019\u00a0to the refs today, I can tell you that,\u201d Hartley said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to display better leadership. I can\u2019t let the refs get to me, I can\u2019t let the other team frustrate me. I want to be out there and be an example. They can handle their own when I\u2019m not out there, but I just want to make sure I\u2019m being impactful and being an example, especially for the young players on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the moment, it looks pretty good. The last piece of the big comeback picture for Bria Harley is to be part of a winning team again. The Sun have 20 games left, getting right back on the court against the Storm on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been able to build on it and have better games now,\u201d Hartley said. \u201cObviously my vision for the season is a lot different than when I first got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dom Amore\u2019s Sunday Read: Farewell to a CT baseball legend; Madness comes early for UConn and more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNCASVILLE \u2014 Bria Hartley got started early, a steal, a couple of 3-pointers in transition in the opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[33992,2000,15861,33993,4804,15862,983,27044,99,27042,15857,31477,434],"class_list":["post-42342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-bria-hartley","tag-connecticut","tag-ct-news","tag-ct-sun","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-hartford-courant","tag-local-news","tag-rachid-meziane","tag-sports","tag-tina-charles","tag-uconn","tag-uconn-womens-basketball","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42342","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=42342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}