2003 Connecticut Sun season

2003 Connecticut Sun season
Coach	Mike Thibault
Arena	Mohegan Sun Arena
Attendance	6,023 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	3rd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost in Eastern Conference Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Nykesha Sales (16.1)
Rebounds	Taj McW.-Franklin (6.7)
Assists	Shannon Johnson (5.8)
← 2002 season 2004 season →

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

Dispersal Draft

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

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

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

Connecticut Sun roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Height	Weight	From
1.5 !G	24	USA !	Black, Debbie	7000160020000000000♠5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)	124 lb (56 kg)	Saint Joseph's
4.0 !F	15	USA !	Coleman, Courtney	7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Ohio State
2.5 !G/F	32	USA !	Douglas, Katie	7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Purdue
5.5 !F/C	7	USA !	Hicks, Jessie	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	Maryland
1.5 !G	31	USA !	Johnson, Adrienne	7000177800000000000♠5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	154 lb (70 kg)	Ohio State
1.5 !G	14	USA !	Johnson, Shannon	7000170180000000000♠5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	152 lb (69 kg)	South Carolina
4.0 !F	50	USA !	Lobo, Rebecca	7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Connecticut
5.5 !F/C	11	USA !	McWilliams-Franklin, Taj (C)	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	St. Edward's College
4.0 !F	3	USA !	Palmer-Daniel, Wendy	7000187960000000000♠6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Virginia
2.5 !G/F	42	USA !	Sales, Nykesha (C)	7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Connecticut
4.0 !F	21	USA !	Wyckoff, Brooke	7000185420000000000♠6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Florida State

Head coach

Mike Thibault (St. Martin's University)

Assistant coaches

Scott Hawk (Nebraska-Omaha)
Bernadette Mattox (Georgia)

Athletic trainer

Jen Brodeur

Strength and conditioning coach

Lisa Ciaravella (Lynn University)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(FA) Free agent
(IN) Inactive
(S) Suspended
Injured

Season standings

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

Preseason

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

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

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

Pos.	Starter	Bench
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

http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2003/

Awards and honors

Shannon Johnson and Nykesha Sales were named to the WNBA All-Star team.
Nykesha Sales was given the Off Season Community Assist Award.

References

External links

Connecticut Sun seasons
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Bold indicates WNBA Finals appearance

Connecticut Sun
Formerly the Orlando Miracle Founded in 1999 Based in Uncasville, Connecticut
Franchise	All-time roster The Orlando Miracle years The move to Connecticut Current season
Arenas	TD Waterhouse Centre Mohegan Sun Arena
Head coaches	Carolyn Peck Dee Brown Mike Thibault Anne Donovan Curt Miller
Administration	Owner: RDV Sports, Inc. Mohegan Sun General Manager: Carolyn Peck Dee Brown Chris Sienko
All-Stars	Alex Bentley Kelsey Bone Tina Charles Katie Douglas Margo Dydek Allison Hightower Shannon Johnson Asjha Jones Taj McWilliams Renee Montgomery Chiney Ogwumike Nykesha Sales Lindsay Whalen
Seasons	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Playoff appearances	2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2011 2012
Conference titles	2004 2005
WNBA titles	None
Rivals	Atlanta Dream Detroit Shock Indiana Fever New York Liberty
Media	TV: CPTV Sports (CPTV-S) Announcers: Bob Heussler Rebecca Lobo Jennifer Rizzotti Kara Wolters

2003 WNBA season by team
Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals
Eastern	Charlotte Sting Cleveland Rockers Connecticut Sun Detroit Shock Indiana Fever New York Liberty Washington Mystics
Western	Houston Comets Los Angeles Sparks Minnesota Lynx Phoenix Mercury Sacramento Monarchs San Antonio Silver Stars Seattle Storm
← 2002 WNBA season 2004 →

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