By DJ Harding –
The Rachid Meziane era unfortunately for the Connecticut Sun begins with a tough 90-85 loss. But for the new look Sun this can be seen as a bit of a moral victory due to the potential shown by the Connecticut squad in their season debut.
Coach Meziane said pregame “we have a lot of potential” Coach later added in that statement “but it’s a work in progress.”
The French Native later in his first WNBA regular season pregame press conference shared what he told the team before the game “enjoy the game and be killers.” he said
After the first quarter Connecticut looked like the killers, Coach Meziane mentioned jumping out to a 23-13 lead with recent training camp acquisition Bria Hartley having six of the Sun’s 23 points off the bench. Hartley finished with 11 points in the loss.
Photo Credit Tammy McManaway
The Sun saw their lead shorten from ten to five going into halftime but were still in control due to the play of the starting bigs Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Tina Charles.
Nelson-Ododa, the current longest tenured Sun, had 10 points at the half and had a near double double performance by the end of the game with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Charles, the WNBA’s all time rebounder and second all-time in points scored 11 points and added seven rebounds at half. Charles ended with a double double in the loss with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Photo Credit Tammy McManaway
Washington also had two players in double figures with rookie Kiki Irafen and guard Brittney Sykes.
Irafen after scoring 10 points at halftime left Connecticut with a win and a 17 point, 14 rebound double-double.
Sykes had 16 points after two quarters before finishing with 27 points and seven assists.
Connecticut came out of halftime with a five point lead and ended the third quarter with that same five point lead.
The Mystics during the third quarter would see Jade Melbourne off the bench cross double figures scoring 15 points through three quarters. Melbourne ended with those same 15 points going scoreless in the fourth.
Also in the third quarter Connecticut would see newcomer Kariata Diaby score her first career WNBA points at the end of the quarter.
Washington after being down 65-60 going into the fourth would outscore the Sun 30-20 to pull off the 90-85 win.
Sonia Citron the rookie out of Notre Dame would hit a key bucket down the stretch to help the Mystics to victory which was part of a 15 point performance.
Connecticut in the fourth quarter would see starting guards Marina Mabrey and Jacy Sheldon also score in double figures with 11 points each.
Coach Meziane gave a postgame statement after the loss with the Connecticut Sun Bigs Nelson-Ododa and Charles fielding questions postgame as well.
I asked Nelson-Ododa about how the Sun can build chemistry from this game. “Leaning on each other.” Nelson-Ododa told me.
The Connecticut Sun will have to lean on each other this coming Tuesday when the Las Vegas Aces come to town.
The Sun will look to get their first win of the 2025 WNBA regular season with tip-off for Tuesday night’s bout scheduled for 7:00 PM EST