Sun Season Preview Notebook: Potential starters, roster breakdown & more
The Connecticut Sun open the 2025 WNBA season at home on Sunday, May 18 hosting the Washington Mystic at 1 p.m. ET.
The Sun have two more games scheduled in the first full week of the season, with a home matchup set against the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. ET. Connecticut rounds out the week with a visit to Minnesota on Friday, May 23 to face the Lynx at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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The Sun announced their official roster for opening day on Thursday ahead of the official tip-off of the 29th season of the WNBA. A record-high 44 games are scheduled in the regular season this year, with the Commissioner's Cup set to begin in June.
Here's a look at who are the projected starters for Sunday's game and a breakdown of the current roster:
Roster Breakdown
Potential Starters
PG: Lindsay Allen
SG: Jacy Sheldon
SF: Marina Mabrey
PF: Tina Charles
C: Olivia Nelson-Ododa
While the preseason doesn't always reflect how a team will look at the start of the season, the Sun's two preseason games did reveal that head coach Rachid Meziane envisions to primarily utilize a double-big rotation with Tina Charles and Olivia Nelson-Ododa in the middle.
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The Sun will look to lean on the creativity and passing vision of their backcourt to create open opportunities for each other. With two guards supporting capable of knocking down threes and creating for others to surround feed Marina Mabrey and Tina Charles, the Sun hope to emulate Meziane's vision of a free-flowing offense.
But as Meziane explained during Thursday's media day press conference, fans can also expect to see a fair amount of flexibility with the starting lineup.
'We play every three days, I need to see how the players can respond,' Meziane said. '... depending on the matchup, I am someone who can change my starting lineup.'
Potential Contributors
Aneesah Morrow, Forward
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The No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft is still recovering from a right knee injury that she picked up during training camp following the college basketball season.
Morrow has yet to return to five-on-five drills and has not offered a timetable to when she is targeting to make her WNBA debut.
But the former LSU Tiger has a hand-picked runway to making an instant impact on a team desperate for an athlete of her size and speed.
At 6-foot-1, Morrow fits the mold of the ideal forward that can stretch the floor in a single-big rotation and still protect the interior, while also being able to shift down in a double-big rotation and still produce while being a menage defensively.
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Saniya Rivers, Guard
Rivers has been away from the team for personal reasons, having recently suffered the unexpected loss of her mother.
No timetable has been made yet for Rivers either, although she was spotted attending practice on Tuesday.
The No. 8 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft could also make an immediate impact on the team. At 6-foot-1, Rivers' length and wiry frame make her a challenge for guards to get around on offense.
Bria Hartley, Guard
The former UConn Husky made it through the final week of training camp and qualified for the opening day team, returning to the Sun following her tumultuous end to the 2022 season, suffering a torn ACL injury in just her third game with Connecticut.
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Hartley hasn't played in the W since recovering from that injury, but she spent the 2024 season competing in Turkey and competing in Athletes Unlimited in prior to the start of training camp.
Hartley was initially drafted by the Mystic with the No. 7 pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft. The 5-foot-9 guard could challenge Allen and Sheldon for one of the starting backcourt spots with her unique combination of ball handling creativity, vision and scoring ability inside and out.
Read the original article on MassLive.
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