The 2016 WNBA season was the 18th season for the Connecticut Sun franchise of the WNBA. It was the 14th season for the franchise in Connecticut. The season tipped off on May 14 in Chicago versus the Chicago Sky.[1]
The Sun went 3–0 in the preseason, but could not carry that momentum over to the regular season as they opened with a loss. They won their second game of the season over San Antonio before losing their next four straight games to end May 1–5. Their losing streak extended into June as they lost their first two games before defeating Seattle by a point. The Sun would lose their next three games, including a triple-overtime thriller against Washington 106–109. They defeated San Antonio again to break their losing streak before losing three straight games to finish June 2–8. July started much better for the Sun as they won three of their first four games, matching their win total from the first two months of the season. Their only loss came at home to Atlanta, 63–67. They lost two games and won to games to end the month 5–3. Upon return from the Olympic Break, the Sun went 2–1 in August, defeating Minnesota and San Antonio at home and losing to Atlanta away. They opened September with a win over Phoenix, but lost their next three games. They finished the season with three wins and finished September 4–3. Their 14–20 overall record saw them finish ninth overall, two games out of the final playoff spot.
See also: 2016 WNBA draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Morgan Tuck | Connecticut | ||
| 1 | 4 | Rachel Banham | Minnesota | ||
| 1 | 6 | Jonquel Jones | George Washington | ||
| 2 | 17 | Jamie Weisner | Oregon State | ||
| 3 | 27 | Aliyyah Handford | St. John's |
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2016 | Traded Elizabeth Williams to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the 4th Overall Pick in the 2016 WNBA draft[2] | |
| April 14, 20216 | Traded Chelsea Gray the 15th and 23rds pick in the 2016 draft, and the 4th pick in the 2017 WNBA draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the rights to Jonquel Jones and the 17th pick in the 2016 draft.[3] | |
| June 25, 2016 | Traded Kelsey Bone to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Courtney Williams, the rights to Jillian Alleyne and the 13th pick in the 2017 draft.[4] | |
Source:[5]
|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 1| May 4| Chicago| W 84–81| Kelsey Bone (15)| Alyssa Thomas (7)| Bone, A. Thomas, J. Thomas, Tuck (5)| Mohegan Sun Arena
4,207| 1–0|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 2| May 5| San Antonio| W 76–53| Morgan Tuck (16)| Jonquel Jones (12)| Kelly Faris (3)| Mohegan Sun Arena
4,025| 2–0|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 3| May 8| @ Dallas| W 82–74| Jonquel Jones (16)| Kelly Faris (7)| Rachel Banham (7)| College Park Center
2,326| 3–0
|- style="background:#fcc;"| 1| May 14| @ Chicago| L 70–93| Alex Bentley (14)| A. Thomas, Tuck (7)| Alyssa Thomas (4)| Allstate Arena
6,719| 0–1|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 2| May 19| @ San Antonio| W 72–68| Camille Little (13)| Kelsey Bone (10)| Jasmine Thomas (8)| AT&T Center
6,267| 1–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| May 21| Washington| L 76–84| Alyssa Thomas (18)| Kelsey Bone (10)| Jasmine Thomas (7)| Mohegan Sun Arena
6,022| 1–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 4| May 26| Los Angeles| L 72–77| Jasmine Thomas (17)| Chiney Ogwumike (9)| Bentley, J. Thomas (4)| Mohegan Sun Arena
4,766| 1–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 5| May 28| @ Seattle| L 81–93| Jasmine Thomas (17)| Jasmine Thomas (5)| Camille Little (6)| KeyArena
4,456| 1–4|- style="background:#fcc;"| 6| May 31| @ Phoenix| L 90–99| Camille Little (16)| Kelsey Bone (8)| Jasmine Thomas (6)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,412| 1–5|- style="background:#fcc;"| 7 || June 3 || Atlanta || L 77–83 || Alex Bentley (16) || Kelsey Bone (7) || Jasmine Thomas (5) || Mohegan Sun Arena
4,541 || 1–6|- style="background:#fcc;"| 8 || June 5 || Indiana || L 77–88 || Alyssa Thomas (20) || Jonquel Jones (9) || Rachel Banham (3) || Mohegan Sun Arena
5,346 || 1–7|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 9 || June 10 || Seattle || W 77–76 || Morgan Tuck (20) || Alyssa Thomas (9) || Alyssa Thomas (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena
8,075 || 2–7|- style="background:#fcc;"| 10 || June 12 || @ Atlanta || L 87–93 || Jasmine Thomas (19) || Bentley, Ogwumike, Tuck (6) || Bentley, Thomas (5) || Philips Arena
4,486 || 2–8|- style="background:#fcc;"| 11 || June 14 || Washington || L 106–109 3OT || Alex Bentley (31) || Kelsey Bone (11) || Camille Little (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena
4,442 || 2–9|- style="background:#fcc;"| 12 || June 16 || New York || L 72–80 || Alex Bentley (16) || Kelsey Bone (7) || Kelsey Bone (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena
4,786 || 2–10|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 13 || June 19 || San Antonio || W 90–83 || Alex Bentley (29) || Jones, J. Thomas (9) || Jasmine Thomas (10) || Mohegan Sun Arena
5,596 || 3–10|- style="background:#fcc;"| 14 || June 24 || @ Seattle || L 81–98 || Alex Bentley (13) || Alyssa Thomas (6) || Alex Bentley (4) || KeyArena
6,568 || 3–11|- style="background:#fcc;"| 15 || June 26 || @ Los Angeles || L 73–80 || Chiney Ogwumike (16) || Alyssa Thomas (9) || Alyssa Thomas (7) || Staples Center
9,441 || 3–12|- style="background:#fcc;"| 16 || June 29 || @ Phoenix || L 75–86 || Alex Bentley (20) || Jonquel Jones (9) || Alex Bentley (6) || Talking Stick Resort Arena
10,551 || 3–13|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 17 || July 2 || @ Dallas || W 86–83 || Alex Bentley (24) || Chiney Ogwumike (9) || Jasmine Thomas (7) || College Park Center
5,108 || 4–13|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 18 || July 7 || Minnesota || W 93–83 || Alex Bentley (24) || Chiney Ogwumike (7) || Jasmine Thomas (7) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,739 || 5–13|- style="background:#fcc;"| 19 || July 10 || Atlanta || L 63–67 || Alyssa Thomas (19) || Ogwumike, J. Thomas (5) || Alex Bentley (3) || Mohegan Sun Arena
5,857 || 5–14|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 20 || July 13 || @ Indiana || W 86–64 || Chiney Ogwumike (20) || Chiney Ogwumike (8) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Bankers Life Fieldhouse
12,272 || 6–14|- style="background:#fcc;"| 21 || July 15 || Los Angeles || L 92–98 || Alyssa Thomas (17) || Chiney Ogwumike (13) || Bentley, J. Thomas, Little (5) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,430 || 6–15|- style="background:#fcc;"| 22 || July 17 || @ New York || L 76–83 || Chiney Ogwumike (18) || Chiney Ogwumike (10) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Madison Square Garden
9,464 || 6–16|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 23 || July 20 || @ Dallas || W 89–78 || Chiney Ogwumike (26) || Chiney Ogwumike (15) || Morgan Tuck (5) || College Park Center
4,873 || 7–16|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 24 || July 22 || @ Chicago || W 94–89 || Alex Bentley (21) || Jonquel Jones (10) || Jasmine Thomas (8) || Allstate Arena
6,893 || 8–16|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 25 || August 26 || Minnesota || W 84–80 || Alyssa Thomas (15) || Chiney Ogwumike (10) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena
7,381 || 9–16|- style="background:#fcc;"| 26 || August 28 || @ Atlanta || L 73–87 || Chiney Ogwumike (24) || Courtney Williams (7) || Jasmine Thomas (4) || Philips Arena
7,055 || 9–17|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 27 || August 30 || San Antonio || W 89–62 || Alex Bentley (21) || Alyssa Thomas (7) || Camille Little (7) || Mohegan Sun Arena
5,291 || 10–17|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 28 || September 2 || Phoenix || W 87–74 || Chiney Ogwumike (22) || Chiney Ogwumike (10) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,709 || 11–17|- style="background:#fcc;"| 29 || September 4 || @ Minnesota || L 79–93 || Alex Bentley (16) || Jonquel Jones (11) || Alex Bentley (6) || Target Center
7,632 || 11–18|- style="background:#fcc;"| 30 || September 9 || @ New York || L 82–89 || Ogwumike, Williams (20) || Chiney Ogwumike (9) || Jasmine Thomas (4) || Madison Square Garden
9,482 || 11–19|- style="background:#fcc;"| 31 || September 11 || Chicago Sky || L 86–96 || Jasmine Thomas (20) || Chiney Ogwumike (10) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,620 || 11–20|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 32 || September 13 || Indiana || W 89–87 || Jasmine Thomas (21) || A. Thomas, J. Thomas (5) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena
4,407 || 12–20|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 33 || September 16 || Dallas || W 107–74 || Little, Williams (15) || Chiney Ogwumike (13) || Jasmine Thomas (6) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,228 || 13–20|- style="background:#bbffbb;"| 34 || September 18 || @ Washington || W 87–78 || Jonquel Jones (21) || Ogwumike, A. Thomas (10) || Jasmine Thomas (10) || Verizon Center
8,991 || 14–20|-
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jasmine Thomas | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | September 19, 2016 | [6] |
| All-Defensive Second Team | September 30, 2016 | [7] |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Bentley | 34 | 34 | 28.8 | 38.5% | 28.6% | 78.5% | 1.9 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 12.9 | |
| Chiney Ogwumike | 33 | 18 | 24.3 | 58.7% | — | 71.9% | 6.7 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.6 | |
| Jasmine Thomas | 34 | 34 | 32.1 | 40.8% | 29.7% | 86.1% | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 11.7 | |
| Alyssa Thomas | 31 | 31 | 27.1 | 48.7% | — | 63.4% | 6.0 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 11.1 | |
| Kelsey Bone | 14 | 13 | 23.9 | 43.3% | 26.7% | 66.7% | 5.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 10.7 | |
| Courtney Williams | 19 | 0 | 17.2 | 42.7% | 30.8% | 57.9% | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 8.1 | |
| Camille Little | 33 | 29 | 24.6 | 38.4% | 32.2% | 63.2% | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 7.8 | |
| Morgan Tuck | 26 | 3 | 16.7 | 41.4% | 30.4% | 71.1% | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 7.0 | |
| Jonquel Jones | 34 | 6 | 14.1 | 53.1% | 33.3% | 73.9% | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 6.8 | |
| Shekinna Stricklen | 28 | 0 | 10.9 | 36.5% | 35.1% | 64.3% | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 4.0 | |
| Rachel Banham | 15 | 0 | 10.9 | 40.8% | 35.1% | 66.7% | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 3.7 | |
| Asia Taylor | 4 | 0 | 4.3 | 60.0% | — | 85.7% | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | |
| Kelly Faris | 31 | 0 | 10.2 | 39.6% | 25.0% | 93.3% | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.0 | |
| Aneika Henry | 10 | 2 | 5.0 | 38.5% | — | 40.0% | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.2 |