The Connecticut Sun defeated the Toronto Tempo 95-81 in their final game at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sept. 24.
The game marked the end of the Suns’ 22-year run in Connecticut. The team will relocate to Houston and adopt the Comets name. As the last buzzer rang, fans chanted “Lets go Sun!” and watched as the team gathered on the court for speeches and one final team photo.
“It was just a great moment to be out there with my teammates and staff and seeing nobody leave the game early,” Aaliyah Edwards, who scored 16 points for the Sun, said. “Everyone stayed out in the crowd.”
For many fans, this game was not a simple farewell, but a goodbye to a community and years’ worth of memories.
“It’s so sad, but it’s out of our control,” Laura Kamienski, a Suns season ticket holder, said.
“We’ve been around the same people for 20-something years. We’ve watched some of them grow up. It’s just sad that those connections and friendships are going to end.”
“We’ll still stick together and everything, but it’s going to be sad not coming here to a game and we just want to thank the Sun for everything they’ve done,” longtime fan Bonnie Luckie told Fox61. “We’ll continue to follow the players wherever they play.”
The team initially tried to sell to a group in Boston last summer, but the league blocked the sale.
The Mohegan Tribe ownership group announced the $300 million sale of the Sun to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta on March 30.
While the sale was ratified in May, the roster and coaching staff have not yet been finalized.
However, General Manager Morgan Tuck and President Jen Rizzotti will remain in their positions.
“A lot of our emotion comes from we feel like we’re leaving this void [in the community],” Rizzotti said. “But we also feel proud that we’re leaving a legacy of giving back to the state that’s given us so much.”
The move will also revive the Houston Comets name.
The Comets were one of the original WNBA franchises and won the first four championships before the team folded in 2008.
For Edwards, who attended the University of Connecticut and played there for four years, leaving the state carries personal value.
“Obviously a bit sad, especially going to UConn for four years and playing so much basketball here in the state of Connecticut,” Edwards said. “But it’s exciting, the impact women’s basketball has had across North America and what’s to come.”
The victory gave the team and its fans a final celebration at Mohegan Sun Arena.
This marks the end of an era for the Connecticut Sun as the franchise will continue under a new name in Houston.
