“Composure.”
After the Connecticut Sun snapped their five-game losing streak Wednesday night and defeated the Seattle Storm, 80-78, that’s the word head coach Rachid Meziane used when asked what he’s most proud of from his young team.
The Sun were down by one point with just 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Aaliyah Edwards battled under the basket and secured the rebound after a missed shot by Storm guard Natisha Heideman. Edwards then dished it to rookie point guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who sent a pass flying to Kennedy Burke in transition. With just less than three seconds remaining, the 6-1 veteran guard levitated in the air and delivered one of the most clutch performances of the season when she sunk in a layup and was fouled.
A fired up Burke, who finished with 15 points on 62% shooting from the field, had crashed to the ground as her Sun teammates — including Edwards, who had 12 points and four rebounds — tried to help lift her up, as well as rookie Nell Angloma, who gave her a pat on the back.
“We didn’t panic, even when Seattle came back in the game, and when they were up, we stayed locked in and very focused on the moment,” Meziane told The IX Basketball after the game, which is also the exact sentiment he said he shared with the team. “We have to be more in the moment, don’t think about the past and something we cannot control — what’s coming next. I think that tonight we really stayed in the present moment.”
The Sun have been battle-tested all season after a 106-75 blowout loss to New York in the season-opener on May 8, followed by a seven-point loss to the Storm two days later. They then lost to Las Vegas, 98-69, but managed to bounce back last Friday. Despite a historic 45-point performance from A’ja Wilson, the Sun lost by seven points again, 101-94. When the Sun narrowly lost to the Fire by a single point (82-83) this past Monday, it was a moment that gave a glimpse, as second-year Saniya Rivers put it, of their “progression” as a team. With each loss, Connecticut has been inching closer and closer to a turnaround season while brushing off the narrative that their worst-start in franchise history would define them.
Instead, they showed that proof is in the progress.
“I think for me, and as a group, just continuing to build the confidence of ourselves and just trusting each other more because I feel like when we trust each other more, then it comes easy to us,” Burke said after the game.
A total of five Sun players scored in double figures in the win over Seattle, including Leger-Walker, who led the team with 16 points off the bench and had three assists, two rebounds and a steal. Since training camp, Leger-Walker has exuded poise as a rookie while showing that she can handle the moment, especially when she’s called upon.
“She’s very intelligent and she was very courageous to pass this last ball to KB,” Meziane told the media postgame. “For her first year, she handled the game like a vet. She played with a lot of composure, and I think she’s the one who helped the team to stay calm and to keep going and keep just believing in what we have to do on the floor. That’s something we value, and I hope that a win like that for her will help her to grow faster. A lot of flowers for her tonight.”
And then there’s Angloma, who scored 15 points and was 7-12 from the field in just her third game for the Sun after competing in France. Meziane has liked what he’s seen from Angloma so far and said the 6-1 forward is “not scared to go downhill and bring her aggressiveness.” As the season continues, he expects Angloma to continue to make strides. ”I am sure that game after game, she will [have an] impact and contribute more,” he said.
Another rookie who has impressed is 6-4 forward Raegan Beers, who went undrafted in the 2026 WNBA draft but has proven she can hold her own in the post. With both Brittney Griner and Olivia Nelson-Ododa out for the past few games due to injury (Nelson-Ododa for her ankle and Griner for her foot and rib), it’s Beers who has taken on a prominent role for the Sun in stride. Against Seattle, she owned the glass and nearly finished with a double-double of 10 points and eight rebounds.
“She’s a sponge, and I feel like she just [had] opportunities to show what she’s capable of, and tonight she has shown that we can play her,” Meziane told The IX Basketball. “We can play her. She’s very solid and she wasn’t shy to play. She took her shot and she brought what we are missing with BG’s absence — this anchor in the paint. She’s a good screener, and I think that she made [Stefanie] Dolson work very hard tonight.”
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Meziane relied heavily on the Sun’s second unit of Beers, Burke, Angloma, Leger-Walker, and Ashlon Jackson, who was activated as a developmental player, to help them rally in the second half. Most of the Sun’s starters saw limited minutes and production, including just two-points from Aneesah Morrow, who has been a double-double machine to start the season and scored the first basket of the game off of an offensive rebound, as well as sharpshooting rookie Gianna Kneepkens.
Hailey Van Lith, who has stepped up and been, as Meziane once described her, “fearless” since arriving to Connecticut after being claimed off waivers from Chicago, notched just one assist. Saniya Rivers, a versatile scorer and defensive ace, scored two points but did have three assists, four rebounds and a steal.
Meziane’s decision to sit his starters and primarily play his second unit was intentional. The foundation of his system, as he went on to explain to The IX Basketball after the game, is based on “effort and energy,” and it was once he saw the momentum the bench was bringing against Seattle, he decided to ultimately let them cook. The Sun bench scored 40 points in the first half and had 62 points total in the win, a performance that now marks the most bench points scored in a single game in Sun franchise history.
“We were respecting the schemes, how we want to play, and they were playing with a lot of energy and effort. I am here to serve the team, so if players on the floor are producing what we want, there is no reason to call them out. They deserve to be on the floor,” Meziane said of his coaching decision. “I didn’t want to break the dynamic, so they just played consistent minutes.”
What’s next for the Sun, he said, is to build on the win against Seattle and improve on the aspects of their game that still need refining. After the loss to Portland, Meziane pointed out that the Sun had missed switches and given up 27 points off of turnovers, and that it’s these “little details” that are essential to winning a game. Against Seattle, he still feels that they were late in rotations and, offensively, need to remain confident while knocking down open shots.
As they get ready to face the Storm again on May 22, Meziane is ready to see them make those improvements, and fast. There’s also a chance Griner could return to the lineup as well, as she was listed as questionable in the game status report on Thursday.
“The next step for us is to get better [at] team defense,” he said. “I do think that tonight we gave up some points because we were a little bit late in our rotation, and pay more attention … Offensively, just hit more on open shots. We create good opportunities, good looks, we missed a lot of them, so offensively, just shoot the ball with more confidence. The next step is to win in two days, and I hope with BG. I hope.”
Added Burke: “For the next game we just [have] to be better because they’re going to come after us and play harder.”
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