The Connecticut Sun played their last game in Connecticut on Thursday, Sept. 24, and beat the Toronto Tempo 95-81 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville before a sellout crowd of 8,911, the Associated Press reported. The regular-season finale ended 24 seasons in the state. The franchise moves to Houston for the 2027 season as the Houston Comets under Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.
The game
The win snapped a six-game losing streak. Connecticut led 38-36 at halftime and took control with a 31-21 third quarter. Ashlon Jackson scored 18 points off the bench, shooting 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Raegan Beers had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Aaliyah Edwards added 16, NBC Connecticut reported. Hailey Van Lith and Giannia Kneepkens each scored 12 off the bench. Kiki Rice led Toronto with 28.
Both teams finished 11-33, out of playoff contention, and now wait on the draft lottery. Five of the 10 Sun players who played on Thursday were rookies, per the AP.
The farewell
The Sun honored longtime season-ticket holders on Thursday. Nykesha Sales, one of the franchise's first stars, was recognized. At the final buzzer, the players on the court embraced and then the whole team raised their arms together. Former coach Mike Thibault was honored after the previous Sunday's game against Minnesota, with Lindsay Whalen, Tina Charles and Taj McWilliams-Franklin in attendance, according to the AP.
"You guys have been our family for 24 years. I know how hard it is. You have proved that Connecticut deserves a WNBA team," team president Jen Rizzotti told the crowd, per the AP. General manager Morgan Tuck, a former UConn and Sun player, said: "The legacy is that we had a positive impact on a lot of people. It might be an end here but it is not an end to our team." Coach Rachid Meziane said: "People will never forget this franchise, never forget the name on the jersey."
Mitchell Etess, the former Sun CEO, told the AP: "It's odd that the league didn't want the team to stay in Connecticut. Connecticut is such a crucial part of women's basketball."
24 years in Uncasville
The franchise began as the Orlando Miracle and moved to Connecticut after the 2002 season, when the Mohegan Tribe bought it for $10 million. According to the AP, the Sun were the first team in league history to turn a profit, and the arena hosted a record four All-Star Games. Connecticut reached the WNBA Finals four times, in 2004, 2005, 2019 and 2022, and lost all four. The AP lists Jonquel Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Tina Charles, Nykesha Sales, Lindsay Whalen, Katie Douglas and Margo Dydek among the stars who played there.
The sale and the move
Fertitta agreed to buy the team for $300 million, a WNBA record, in a deal announced March 30, ESPN reported. The WNBA and NBA boards of governors approved the sale and relocation unanimously in May. The team will play at Toyota Center, which holds 18,000 for basketball, twice the 9,000 capacity of Mohegan Sun Arena, WFSB reported. It takes the name of the original Houston Comets, who won the first four WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000 and folded after the 2008 season.
The Houston deal came after the league blocked a $325 million bid in 2025 from a group led by Steve Pagliuca, who planned to move the team to Boston. The league said relocation decisions "are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," the Boston Globe reported. A separate bid from Marc Lasry was rejected on the same grounds. The AP notes that the new collective bargaining agreement requires state-of-the-art practice facilities for every team, and that playing in the WNBA's smallest market made it hard for the Sun to attract top free agents.
Rizzotti moves to Houston as president of basketball operations, and she told the AP that 75% to 80% of the front-office staff will make the move too. The league and the Mohegan Tribe have not announced any plan for a future WNBA team in Connecticut.
Source: Associated Press, NBC Connecticut, ESPN, Associated Press (via KSAT), Boston Globe
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