2009 Connecticut Sun season

2009 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Mike Thibault
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	6,794 per game
Results
Record	16–18 (.471)
Place	6th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Jones (16.7)
Rebounds	Gruda (6.3)
Assists	Whalen (4.6)
Media
Television	WCTX
← 2008 season 2010 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.

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

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.

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

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Kerri Gardin	January 21, 2009	re-signed
Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota	February 13, 2009	free agent
Kiesha Brown	June 3, 2009	Washington Mystics
Tan White	June 19, 2009	Indiana Fever

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team
Jamie Carey	April 13, 2009	retired
Tamika Raymond	April 20, 2009	free agent
Ketia Swanier	June 1, 2009	Phoenix Mercury
Lyndra Littles	June 5, 2009	free agent
Danielle Page	June 5, 2009	free agent
Barbara Turner	June 28, 2009	free agent
Lauren Ervin	July 4, 2009	free agent
Svetlana Abrosimova	2009	free agent

Roster

Connecticut Sun roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 33 Black, Chante 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Duke PG 4 Brown, Kiesha 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 134 lb (61 kg) Georgia SF 41 Gardin, Kerri 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Virginia Tech C 7 Gruda, Sandrine 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) France G/F 1 Holt, Amber 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 167 lb (76 kg) Middle Tennessee State SG 10 Jēkabsone-Žogota, Anete 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Latvia PF 15 Jones, Asjha 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 198 lb (90 kg) Connecticut PG 31 Phillips, Erin 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 162 lb (73 kg) Australia PG 13 Whalen, Lindsay 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Minnesota SG 20 White, Tan 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 154 lb (70 kg) Mississippi State PF 00 Whitmore, Tamika 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Memphis	Head coach Mike Thibault (St. Martin's University) Assistant coaches Scott Hawk (Nebraska-Omaha) Bernadette Mattox (Georgia) Athletic trainer Jeremy Norman (Keene State College) Strength and conditioning coach Jodi Hopkins (Ohio) Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Indiana Fever x	22	12	.647	–	14–3	8–9	17–5
Atlanta Dream x	18	16	.529	4.0	12–5	6–11	10–12
Detroit Shock x	18	16	.529	4.0	11–6	7–10	11–11
Washington Mystics x	16	18	.471	6.0	11–6	5–12	10–12
Chicago Sky o	16	18	.471	6.0	12–5	4–13	10–12
Connecticut Sun o	16	18	.471	6.0	12–5	4–13	9–12
New York Liberty o	13	21	.382	9.0	8–9	5–12	8–13

Schedule

Preseason

2009 Game Log: Preseason

Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 22 7:00pm New York 74-62 Jones (11) Black (7) Whalen (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,578 1-0 2 May 27 7:30pm @ Atlanta 73-76 Phillips (18) Black, Ervin (6) Swanier, Whalen (3) Philips Arena 4,980 1-1 3 May 31 7:00pm Los Angeles 77-80 Phillips (11) Littles (8) Phillips, Swanier, Whalen (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,630 1-2

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	33	8	13.0	3.2	0.2	0.39	0.82	2.9
Kiesha Brown	34	0	11.6	1.6	1.1	0.38	0.09	3.8
Kristi Cirone	4	0	5.8	1.3	1.0	0.50	0.00	1.8
Lauren Ervin	8	0	7.0	1.6	0.0	0.13	0.00	2.0
Kerri Gardin	33	23	18.1	4.3	1.2	0.76	0.73	5.5
Sandrine Gruda	26	25	31.2	6.3	1.3	0.88	1.58	13.5
Amber Holt	23	7	16.5	3.2	1.9	0.39	0.09	6.0
Anete Jēkabsone-Žogota	27	16	23.9	2.9	2.2	0.33	0.00	9.4
Asjha Jones	23	23	31.6	5.9	2.4	0.87	0.57	16.7
Erin Phillips	32	18	23.1	3.2	2.1	1.34	0.09	8.1
Barbara Turner	7	0	20.6	2.1	2.0	0.71	0.00	4.0
Lindsay Whalen	34	34	29.4	4.6	4.6	1.26	0.15	12.3
Tan White	30	15	22.0	2.7	2.2	1.17	0.30	9.5
Tamika Whitmore	24	1	15.7	2.2	1.0	0.38	0.13	4.4

Team Statistics

Team	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
Connecticut Sun	.406	.316	.747	34.8	17.9	7.4	3.8	13.3	19.9	78.0
Opponents	.426	.322	.792	37.5	15.4	7.3	3.7	16.2	20.1	78.1

Awards and honors

• Asjha Jones was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 20, 2009.
• Sandrine Gruda was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 17, 2009.
• Asjha Jones was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as an Eastern Conference reserve.

Attendance

• A sellout for a basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena is 9,518.

Regular Season Attendance
Year Average: Home Average: Away High Low Sellouts Total for Year WNBA Game Average 2009 6,794 (12th) 7,761 (10th) 9,047 5,675 0 115,496 8,039