UNCASVILLE — The Connecticut Sun’s faithful fanbase hasn’t wavered in 2025 despite a massive offseason rebuild and underwhelming start to the season, and the nearly full crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena was rewarded on Friday when the team earned its first home win, 84-76, over the Atlanta Dream.
After upsetting the third-place team in the league, star veteran Tina Charles took the microphone at center court to address the 8,078 fans in attendance.
“We’re going to turn this season around,” Charles told them. “I promise you.”
Friday’s victory was the surest sign of progress the Sun (2-6) have seen yet, especially because it came five days after the worst loss in franchise history, to the New York Liberty. New York’s 100-52 margin of victory was the second largest in WNBA history and also set a record for the Liberty’s most points ever against Connecticut. The rebuilding Sun were always going to be massive underdogs to the reigning league champions, but coach Rachid Meziane’s biggest frustration after the 48-point defeat was the team’s lack of togetherness in its execution.
“On both sides of the ball, we didn’t do our job,” Meziane said in New York. “Every time we play to our strengths, we compete, but every time we’ve lost our toughness, our focus, we’ve lost the game. We cannot be a team who can choose to just play offense or defense.”
On a Twitch livestream with Minnesota Lynx guards Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman this week, Sun star Marina Mabrey said the New York loss “hurt the inside of my soul,” and she saw the whole team take the blowout personally when they returned to practice.
“Everybody here is competitive, so when you lose by 50, like I was pissed all week,” Mabrey said after the win Friday. “We were all pissed … The first two plays of the game, I messed it up, so it was just a tone-setting from me that didn’t help our team. So I went back to the drawing board and was like, I need to set the tone in any way that I can and also involve other people.”
On paper, Atlanta posed a similarly difficult matchup for the Sun. The Dream routed Connecticut 79-55 on May 25 when both nine-time All-Star Brittney Griner and rookie guard Te-Hina Paopao were sidelined by injuries. This time Atlanta was fully healthy with starting point guard Jordin Canada also returning from a preseason knee injury to make her 2025 debut. Matching up with 6-foot-9 Griner became an even bigger challenge for the Sun midgame when starting center Olivia Nelson-Ododa exited in the second quarter with an ankle injury.
But instead of collapsing, the Sun rose to meet the moment. Mabrey put on an offensive masterclass with 34 points shooting 59.1% from the field, but she also had one of her best two-way performances leading the team in defensive rebounds and earning her best defensive rating of the season. Charles seemed to take the matchup with Griner personally, sticking her tongue out with a wide grin in celebration when she hit a hook shot over the Atlanta star seconds after Nelson-Ododa checked out. She finished with 19 points shooting 8-for-13, a massive improvement over her 5-for-20 performance the first time Connecticut faced the Dream.
Marina Mabrey dominates with 34 points, leads Connecticut Sun to 84-76 victory over Atlanta Dream
The Sun also got a major spark from rookies Saniya Rivers and Aneesah Morrow, who have quickly established themselves as the future of the franchise since they were selected in the first round of the 2025 draft. Morrow spent most of training camp rehabbing a lingering knee injury from her college season, so her playing time has been limited early on, but she had the second-highest plus-minus score on the team at plus-12 in just 13 minutes. She also led the Sun in defensive rating, finishing with three points, two rebounds, and an assist.
Rivers had nine points, five rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes, and her clutch defensive plays fueled the Sun down the stretch. She made a momentum-shifting block on Dream star Allisha Gray to protect a two-score lead for Connecticut early in the the fourth quarter, then stripped the ball from two-time All-Star Rhyne Howard on Atlanta’s next possession. She added another block on a Howard 3-point attempt with 22 seconds left, drawing a foul against Howard on the ensuing loose ball and hitting a free throw to give the Sun a 10-point lead.
Perhaps the biggest contribution from Rivers was her emphatic celebrations every time Connecticut made a play. Mabrey didn’t crack a smile after sinking a halftime buzzer-beater until Rivers came crashing into her for a chest bump, and the rookie had Mabrey hitting the ‘too small’ gesture by the middle of the third quarter after a 10-2 run.
“I bring energy every day in the locker room. It doesn’t matter if it’s eight in the morning, I’m coming bringing that energy, so coming into the game today if I saw a shot go in or I got defensive stop, even if it don’t have nothing to do with me, I’m lit,” Rivers said. “I’m doing all types of stuff, interacting with the crowd. I’m supposed to be getting back on defense, but I’m just lit. But that’s just me … I feel like I play my best basketball when I’m having fun.”
Connecticut has proven twice now how good it can be when the pieces come together with both of its wins against teams expected to make the playoffs in 2025. The biggest question is whether the Sun can reach that ceiling with any consistency, because they’ve also seen exactly how low the floor is. For Meziane, the challenge right now is mostly mental. He knows it’s going to take time to see the inexperienced roster play with chemistry and composure in new scenarios, but he wants to see the group continue responding well to adversity.
“I have in my head one moment when the ref didn’t make a call and we started to lose our minds, so we just have to control our emotions,” Meziane said. “It wasn’t perfect today, but we fought, and I think that’s a good foundation … Even if we are improving in our game, the other teams are working too, so they’ll improve and develop. We’re just trying to reduce the gap when you’re a young team like us, so I don’t have a deadline in mind. Just keep working, because it’s a long process for us.”
The Sun have their next opportunity to show growth on a quick turnaround, heading back on the road Sunday to face the Washington Mystics for a rematch of their 90-85 loss in the season opener.
How to watch
Site: CareFirst Arena, Washington D.C.
Time/date: 3 p.m., Sunday
Team records: Sun 2-6, Mystics 3-6
Last meeting: 90-85 Mystics, May 18 in Uncasville
TV: NBC Sports Boston (local)
Streaming: WNBA LeaguePass