Tag: DeWanna Bonner

Connecticut Sun remain undefeated in 2024 after defeating Atlanta Dream

The Sun are now one of seven teams in WNBA history to start a regular season off with eight consecutive wins or better.

The Connecticut Sun defeated the Atlanta Dream on Sunday and are now undefeated in the 2024 WNBA season with an 8-0 record. The Sun are now one of seven teams in WNBA history to start a regular season with eight consecutive wins or better.

The game marked DeWanna Bonner’s eighth consecutive game finishing in double-figures and the 10th time in her 15-year career that she’s had a streak of eight or more games finishing in double digits. Connecticut grabbed a season-high 45 rebounds in the win, with Alyssa Thomas finishing with a rebounds-assists double-double.

The Dream were led by Tina Charles, who finished the game with a double-double, notching 12 points, 12 rebounds, one assist, four steals and one block. However, the effort was not enough to overcome the Sun and the Dream fell 69-50.

This game was part of the WNBA’s in-season tournament, the Commissioner’s Cup. With the win, the Sun earned a $2,000 payment to their 2024 Commissioner’s Cup recipient, Reproductive Equity Now.

The Sun’s next game is at home against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday.

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Watch: DeWanna Bonner celebrates Auburn Women’s Basketball’s win over Alabama

An afternoon that began with tears ended in joy for Auburn Women’s Basketball legend DeWanna Bonner. 

An afternoon that began with tears ended in joy for Auburn Women’s Basketball legend [autotag]DeWanna Bonner[/autotag].

Bonner was honored before Auburn’s game against Alabama at Neville Arena on Sunday by retiring the No. 24 that she wore from 2005-09. The honor comes after scoring 2,162 total points in four seasons with a rebound average of 8.3 per game. She has also represented Auburn well in the WNBA as a five-time all-star, a three-time “Sixth Woman of the Year”, and a two-time world champion.

Following the pregame ceremony, Bonner stayed to watch her former team take down the rival Crimson Tide, 78-65. The Tigers’ win over Alabama was the team’s second SEC win of the season and was the 12th win of the season. After the game, Bonner joined the team, as well as Auburn fans, in taking part in a traditional song that is performed after a win over Alabama.

Watch as Bonner takes part in “reverse rammer jammer” following Auburn’s win over Alabama on Sunday afternoon.

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WNBA playoffs predictions: Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back?

For basketball heads everywhere, the WNBA playoffs are an out-of-body experience.

The WNBA playoffs are here. This is when regular season records mean nothing, and wins mean everything. It’s buzzer beaters, emphatically blocked shots, “what did I just see?” moments and scoring so good you’ll need a pulse check.

For basketball heads everywhere, this is an out-of-body experience. The level of play is elevated, and so are the expectations.

Will the Lynx fly too close to the Sun? (See what I did there?) Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back titles?

Who wins? Who’s out?

These are your 2023 WNBA playoff predictions:

Multiple Connecticut Sun players make team history in loss to Minnesota Lynx

Sun players DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas made some team history on Sunday in a loss to the Lynx.

On Sunday, the Connecticut Sun lost to the Minnesota Lynx, 87-83, but two players recorded impressive records in the process. DeWanna Bonner became the first player in franchise history to have back-to-back 30-point games.

Bonner scored 31 points and had five rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block. She also moved to 13th all-time in Sun history in rebounds, passing Jasmine Thomas (667).

Meanwhile, Alyssa Thomas recorded her fourth triple-double of the season and sixth in her career with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Sun guard Tiffany Hayes also grabbed her 1,000th career rebound in the loss.

The Lynx shot 57.4% from the floor, which is the highest field goal percentage the Sun have allowed this season. The Sun are looking to bounce back at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET when they take on the Lynx in the second of a two-game homestand.

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For the fifth time in her career, DeWanna Bonner is an all-star

Bonner is averaging 18.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists for the Connecticut Sun this season.

For the fifth time in her career, former Auburn forward [autotag]DeWanna Bonner[/autotag] has been named a WNBA All-Star.

In her 13th season in the league, Bonner is averaging 18.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists for the Connecticut Sun. In her career, she has averaged 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and a shooting percentage of 41%.

Bonner was also named an all-star in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Bonner began her career with the Phoenix Mercury who selected her with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft.

The Fairfield, Alabama native has put together an extensive resume throughout her career and continues to do so by climbing up the all-time scoring rankings.

She currently sits in ninth place and is 45 points away from passing Candace Parker for eighth place.

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DeWanna Bonner now top 10 all-time in WNBA scoring

Bonner is now just 36 points away from climbing to No. 9.

After posting 20 points in the Connecticut Sun’s 85-79 victory over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night, former Auburn forward [autotag]DeWanna Bonner[/autotag] now sits top 10 all-time in WNBA scoring and is only 36 points away from the No. 9 spot.

The Fairfield, Alabama native is currently playing her 14th season in the WNBA.

Bonner is having a productive season with the Sun averaging 17.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.

During her time on the Plains, Bonner averaged 18.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. She was named First Team All-America by the WBCA and the USBWA in 2009.

The Sun will take on the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.

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DeWanna Bonner’s career night helps Sun hand Aces their first loss of the season

The former Tiger star had quite the night for the Connecticut Sun.

Former Auburn forward [autotag]DeWanna Bonner[/autotag] scored 41 points in the Connecticut Sun’s 94-77 win over the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday.

In addition to her 41 points, Bonner recorded seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal. She also went 16-23 from the field, 5-7 from three-point range, and 4-5 at the free-throw line.

Bonner played for Auburn from 2006-2009 and started every game while she was on the Plains. The Fairfield, Alabama native scored a total of 1,771 points during her time with the Tigers.

The standout player picked up many accolades including three selections to the all-SEC first-team, SEC Player of the Year in 2009, and multiple all-America first-team selections.

Bonner was selected No. 5 overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2009 WNBA Draft and helped lead the team to a championship that season. She was named WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielJLocke

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WNBA Finals player props: DeWanna Bonner will bounce back in Game 2 from an off shooting night

We’re talking buckets.

Game 1 of the WNBA Finals went just about how the Connecticut Sun imagined in their wildest dreams. It was an extremely physical, low-scoring basketball game tailor-made for their style of play.

Yet, the Aces came away with the victory despite the flow of the game. As Connecticut tries to even up the series, it’ll need to follow a similar script. Only, this time, it would be great for Curt Miller if his players made a few more shots.

Vegas (-4.5) could also use some better luck with shotmaking. It was mainly just A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and a little bit of Jackie Young doing the job in Game 2.

Who could possibly step up on Tuesday night and provide a needed scoring boost for either squad? We turn to the player props.

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Recapping the WNBA’s wild free agency period

The WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement has sparked major movement in its free agency period.

WNBA free agency has only been upon us for a day and a half and things are already getting insane.

In just a couple days, here’s where we are:

  • Angel McCoughtry left the Atlanta Dream and signed with the Las Vegas Aces
  • Kristi Toliver left the WORLD CHAMPION Mystics and signed with the Los Angeles Sparks
  • The Phoenix Mercury signed and traded DeWanna Bonner to the Connecticut Sun

Those are three big moves that all impact last year’s semi-finalists. The Mystics got worse after having a historic offensive year while the Sun, Aces and Sparks all got a lot better.

This is NBA-level chaos for the WNBA in February when the offseason is supposed to be dead. You absolutely love to see it.

It’s all thanks to the WNBA’s new CBA

The league’s new collective bargaining agreement was the secret sauce the league needed to get its offseason popping.

Teams really just ain’t broke anymore, to put it bluntly. They have more money to play with. The league’s max salaries have jumped up to $215,000 from $117,500 last year, and the league’s salary cap spiked by more than 30%.

The league will be a lot better for it

The league might literally have more super teams than it can handle right now. Three teams in the W have at least three 2019 All-Stars their team — that’s a FOURTH of the league.

That’s not even counting the Mystics, who have Finals MVP Emma Meesseman, or the Storm, who were without Brianna Stewart and Sue Bird for most of last season. Or what about the Sun with Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner? The list goes on.

To put things simply, the WNBA is going to be wild next year.

This is absolutely great for the WNBA as it continues to grow its brand. People love watching super teams despite how much they claim to hate them. All we have to do is look to the NBA’s ratings for proof.

The NBA is as competitive as its ever been right now during the Warriors’  lost year and the league’s ratings are down. When people were firing off their snake emojis at Kevin Durant? Ratings weren’t a problem.

That theory withstands the test of time. Whether it’s Magic’s Lakers, Jordan’s Bulls or LeBron’s Heat, people watched. As much as folks cry about parity, it hasn’t gotten people to watch.

Super teams sell. The WNBA has plenty of them. You can do the math from there.

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