2003 Connecticut Sun season

2003 Connecticut Sun season
CoachMike Thibault
ArenaMohegan Sun Arena
Attendance6,023 per game
Results
Record18–16 (.529)
Place3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finishLost in Eastern Conference Finals
Team Leaders
PointsNykesha Sales (16.1)
ReboundsTaj McW.-Franklin (6.7)
AssistsShannon Johnson (5.8)

The 2003 WNBA season was their fifth season and their first in Connecticut. The Sun made the playoffs for the first time since 2000. They would sweep the Charlotte Sting in the first round, only to get swept to the eventual champion Detroit Shock in the conference finals.

Offseason

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Dispersal Draft

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Based on the Sun's 2002 record, they would pick 6th in the Miami Sol/Portland Fire dispersal draft. The Sun selected point guard Debbie Black.

WNBA draft

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Round Pick Player Nationality School/team/country
2 13 Courtney Coleman  United States Ohio State
3 34 Lindsay Wilson  United States Iowa State

[1]

Transactions

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  • September 23: Rebecca Lobo announced her retirement.
  • May 21: The Sun waived Rasheeda Clark and Lindsey Wilson and announced the retirement of Carla McGhee.
  • May 10: The Sun waived Brianne Stepherson.
  • May 7: The Sun waived Natalie Powers.
  • May 1: The Sun waived Davalyn Cunningham.
  • February 14: The Sun traded its second round pick in the 2003 WNBA Draft to the Houston Comets in return for Rebecca Lobo.

[2]

Roster

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Connecticut Sun roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 24 United States Black, Debbie 5' 3" (1.6m) 124 lb (56kg) Saint Joseph's
F 15 United States Coleman, Courtney 6' 0" (1.83m) 170 lb (77kg) Ohio State
G/F 32 United States Douglas, Katie 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) Purdue
F/C 7 United States Hicks, Jessie 6' 4" (1.93m) 188 lb (85kg) Maryland
G 31 United States Johnson, Adrienne 5' 10" (1.78m) 154 lb (70kg) Ohio State
G 14 United States Johnson, Shannon 5' 7" (1.7m) 152 lb (69kg) South Carolina
F 50 United States Lobo, Rebecca 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) Connecticut
F/C 11 United States McWilliams-Franklin, Taj (C) 6' 2" (1.88m) 184 lb (83kg) St. Edward's College
F 3 United States Palmer-Daniel, Wendy 6' 2" (1.88m) 165 lb (75kg) Virginia
G/F 42 United States Sales, Nykesha (C) 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) Connecticut
F 21 United States Wyckoff, Brooke 6' 1" (1.85m) 183 lb (83kg) Florida State
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Athletic trainer
  • United States Jen Brodeur
Strength and conditioning coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Season standings

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Eastern Conference W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
Detroit Shock x 25 9 .735 – 13–4 12–5 18–6
Charlotte Sting x 18 16 .529 7.0 13–4 5–12 12–12
Connecticut Sun x 18 16 .529 7.0 10–7 8–9 11–13
Cleveland Rockers x 17 17 .500 8.0 11–6 6–11 13–11
Indiana Fever o 16 18 .471 9.0 11–6 5–12 12–12
New York Liberty o 16 18 .471 9.0 11–6 5–12 11–13
Washington Mystics o 9 25 .265 16.0 3–14 6–11 7–17

Schedule

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Preseason

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Game Date Opponent Result Record
1 May 6 New York L 81-73 0-1
2 May 11 @ Charlotte W 65-64 1-1
3 May 16 Houston L 72-79 1-2

Regular season

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Game Date Opponent Result Record
1 May 24 Los Angeles L 73-82 0-1
2 May 30 @ Houston W 91-83 1-1
3 June 1 @ San Antonio W 83-64 2-1
4 June 5 @ Detroit L 89-103 2-2
5 June 7 Houston W 65-58 3-2
6 June 13 Washington W 84-70 4-2
7 June 14 @ Cleveland L 56-84 4-3
8 June 18 Cleveland W 70-57 5-3
9 June 20 @ Indiana L 74-84 5-4
10 June 22 Detroit L 73-82 (OT) 5-5
11 June 24 @ Washington W 65-63 6-5
12 June 26 Indiana L 90-94 (OT) 6-6
13 June 28 @ Charlotte L 55-69 6-7
14 July 1 @ New York L 64-90 6-8
15 July 2 Cleveland W 64-57 7-8
16 July 4 Sacramento W 69-67 8-8
17 July 6 New York W 62-58 9-8
18 July 8 @ Detroit L 50-66 9-9
19 July 10 @ Minnesota L 75-83 9-10
20 July 17 Seattle L 65-67 9-11
21 July 19 @ Phoenix W 75-67 10-11
22 July 20 @ Los Angeles W 76-73 11-11
23 July 23 Minnesota W 84-70 12-11
24 July 26 Charlotte W 74-70 13-11
25 August 1 Washington L 45-48 13-12
26 August 3 Indiana W 66-55 14-12
27 August 5 Detroit L 61-78 14-13
28 August 9 @ Charlotte L 68-69 14-14
29 August 12 New York L 73-74 14-15
30 August 16 @ New York W 84-71 15-15
31 August 19 @ Cleveland L 52-69 15-16
32 August 22 Charlotte W 63-55 16-16
33 August 23 @ Washington W 74-67 17-16
34 August 25 @ Indiana W 72-62 18-16

Playoffs

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In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Charlotte Sting. Since the Sting had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut, game 2 at Charlotte, and game 3 (if needed) at Charlotte. The Sun swept the Sting and advanced to the second round. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Detroit Shock. Since the Shock had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Connecticut and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Detroit. The Shock swept the Sun and game 3 was not needed.

Game Date Opponent Result Record Game Type
1 August 28 Charlotte W 68-66 1-0 Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals, Game 1
2 August 30 @ Charlotte W 68-62 2-0 Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals, Game 2
3 September 5 Detroit L 63-73 2-1 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1
4 September 7 @ Detroit L 73-79 2-2 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2

Depth

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Pos. Starter Bench Inactive
C Taj McWilliams-Franklin Jessie Hicks
PF Brooke Wyckoff Wendy Palmer -- Rebecca Lobo
SF Katie Douglas Courtney Coleman
SG Nykesha Sales Adrienne Johnson
PG Shannon Johnson Debbie Black

Player stats

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Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ WNBA.com: 2003 WNBA Draft Board
  2. ^ WNBA.com: 2003 WNBA Transactions
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