Washington catches Sun in fourth quarter to spoil season opener

Connecticut’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa (10), shown in an exhibition game against Seattle earlier this month, had 18 points in Sunday’s season-opening loss to Washington in Uncasville. (Photo by Scott Eklund/NBAE via Getty Images)

It’s a new era for the Connecticut Sun.

The Sun have five rookies and a pair of second-year players on a young team.

Gone are all five starters and head coach Stephanie White that went to the WNBA semifinals a year ago before being eliminated by the Minnesota Lynx in five games.

All-WNBA forward Alyssa Thomas is in Phoenix after 11 years in Connecticut. Veteran DeWanna Bonner is playing in Indiana for White with the sensational Caitlin Clark while Brionna Jones is in Atlanta. DiJonai Carrington and Ty Harris will be playing in Dallas this season with No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers from UConn.

And a week ago, there was the blockbuster news that the owners of the Sun, the Mohegan Tribal Nation, are exploring options that may include the sale of the team that they brought to Connecticut in 2003.

On Sunday, the Sun became the final team in the WNBA to open the 2025 season by hosting the Washington Mystics. Connecticut is being lead by new head coach Rachid Meziane, the first international coach to be hired in the WNBA without any prior WNBA experience.

Still, there are a few familiar faces on the Sun roster for Connecticut fans.

Tina Charles, the former UConn star drafted by the Sun as the No. 1 pick in the 2010 WNBA draft, returns to the team for her 13th WNBA season. Olivia Nelson-Ododa, entering her third WNBA season and second with Connecticut, returns along with former UConn guard Bria Hartley, who was signed by the Sun last week.

Those three former UConn players – Charles, Nelson-Ododa and Hartley – played well in Sunday’s game at the Mohegan Sun Arena against the Mystics.

Charles had a team-high 23 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and three steals while Nelson-Ododa scored 18 points. Hartley came off the bench to score 11 points, including a pair of three-point shots.

The Sun had a 14-point lead in the first quarter but couldn’t stop Washington’s Brittney Sykes, who scored a game-high 27 points, as Washington rallied for a 90-85 win over Connecticut before 7,834 fans on Sunday.

Sykes and rookie Sonia Citron each had nine points in the fourth quarter as the Mystics (2-0) took the lead for the first time with 4:33 remaining and never relinquished it. The Sun led by seven, 70-63, with 8:11 remaining after a three-point shot from Marina Mabrey but the Mystics persisted.

Sykes had seven assists, two steals and a block while Citron had 15 points, two steals and a block. Rookie Kiki Iriafren had 17 points and a game-high 14 rebound.

The Mystics forced 13 turnovers and scoring 21 points of Connecticut miscues. The Sun hit only 3-of-14 shots from three-point range with Mabrey going 1-for-8 from long distance.

“We showed we can do it,” Charles said. “It just being able to do it for 40 minutes. It is hard to fight through the fatigue.”

This team is still getting to know each other.

“I really get on them about practice,” Charles said. “Who you want to be starts in practice. You can’t just come to the game and think that you’ll just turn it on. We will be cheating ourselves, cheating the game, disrespecting our opponents.

“Everything starts in practice. You saw at the beginning of the game (Connecticut’s success),” Charles said. “Now we have to sustain it for 40 minutes.”

The Sun return to action on Tuesday when they host the Las Vegas Aces at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

NOTES: Three Sun rookies did not play. LSU’s Anneesah Morris, the No. 7 pick in April’s 2025 WNBA draft was out due to issues with her knee. NC State’s Saniya Rivers (No. 8) was out for personal reasons after her mother passed away earlier this month. France’s Leila Lacan, the team’s first round pick (No. 10 overall) in the 2024 WNBA draft, is still overseas finishing out her season with Basket Landes, a French team. Lacan, a 5-foot-11 guard, was on the French team that won a silver medal at the 2024 Olympics.

Washington 90, Connecticut 85
At Uncasville
Washington (90) Citron 5-10 5-6 15, Iriafen 7-10 3-4 17, Dolson 1-3 0-0 3, Sykes 8-13 11-13 27, Sutton 3-7 0-0 6, Austn 2-5 0-0 4, Melbourne 5-8 2-6 15, Engstler 1-2 0-0 3, Olson 0-2 0-0 0, Kone 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 21-29 90
Connecticut (85) Mabrey 5-21 0-1 11, Nelson-Ododa 5-8 8-8 18, Charles 8-15 7-9 23, Shelon 4-5 3-3 11, Allen 2-5 2-3 6, Peters 1-6 1-2 3, Hartley 3-4 4-4 11, Diaby 1-1 0-0 2, Parks 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-66 24-29 85
Washington (2-0)      13  28  19  30  — 90
Connecticut (0-1)      23  23  19  20  – 85
Three-point goals: Washington 5-15 (Citron 0-3, Dolson 1-3, Sykes 0-1, Sutton 0-3, Melbourne 3-4, Engstler 1-1, Olsen 1-1); Connecticut 3-14 (Mabrey 1-8, Shelon 0-1, Peters 0-2, Hartley 2-2, Parks 0-1)
Att: 7,834