HARTFORD, Conn. –– Strong winds, chilly weather and light rain rolled over Connecticut as fans gathered at the Connecticut Sun’s fan fest on Pratt St., but then the sun peeked out a little, right before tipoff, which is fitting for the Sun’s sunset season and its historic first game in the city since their inaugural 2003 season.
Sun fans started to fill the sidewalks of downtown Hartford with spurts of orange. A line began to form inside PeoplesBank Arena almost three hours before the game as excitement to watch the Sun take on the Los Angeles Sparks was brewing.
PeoplesBank Arena was once known as the Civic Center, home to another professional basketball team that rode the wave of excitement generated by the UConn women’s basketball program.
27 years ago, Sun team president Jennifer Rizzotti watched her team, the New England Blizzard, a former women’s professional basketball team in the American Basketball League (ABL), abruptly fold with little to no farewell for the fans. This time it is different, and Rizzotti and the Sun front office are working to provide the most memorable farewell tour for its fans.
“Although it’s kind of heartbreaking that the team will be leaving, at least we have a little bit of a runway, right? Our staff has a runway to think about what’s next, to celebrate our fans, to try and make sure we’re giving our players the experience they deserve, and remind them why playing in a Connecticut Sun uniform is special, and it’s been special for 23 years. So, yeah, that’s a positive out of all of this,” Rizzotti told reporters pregame.
Pratt St. fan fest
The Connecticut Sun pregame fan fest leading up to tip-off was organized to give fans the chance to experience interactive activations and bring the Sun and the Hartford community together.
As people entered the street, a banner stretched across an arch stating, “Welcome to the 2026 Hartford Fan Fest.” Balloons in the Sun’s team colors –– orange, blue and white –– wrapped around light poles in a spiral. Window art, matching the exclusive Connecticut Sun and Hartford crossover t-shirt, was splattered across the glass.
DJ WhyNot stood on a bake shop balcony above the street, encouraging fans to sing and dance to the songs he was playing. At the same time, the Sun dance team, the Shine Squad, and the team mascot, Blaze, gathered in the streets to dance with the community and kick-start the festivities.
It took a few minutes to get everyone into it, but once fans joined in, everyone seemed to be having a great time.
There were also roaming photo booths for fans to get a commemorative digital print with an orange basketball frame around it, displaying “Fan Fest 2026” and the sunset season logo in the bottom-right corner. There was also Sun-themed ice cream, temporary tattoos and hair styles done by a professional barber pop-up.
One fan, season-ticket holder Kylar Maldonado, shared that his favorite part about the event was getting the chance to mingle with other fans.
“Seeing new faces, seeing people that I’ve never seen before, and hearing that this is their first time actually being able to see a professional women’s basketball team … and melt in with old faces that I see all the time causing chaos at the arena back home,” Maldonado told The IX Sports.
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Leïla Lacan returns
Sun guard Leïla Lacan made her long-anticipated return and 2026 season debut. As the Sun’s hype video began to play on the jumbotron, flashes lit up the stands.
The starting lineup began being announced, and when fan favorite Lacan was introduced, loud cheers filled the arena, nearly shaking the walls.
Lacan made an immediate impact on a Sun team that hasn’t had the smoothest start to their season. Despite foul trouble, Lacan helped lead the Sun to their second win of the season with 12 points, three assists, two rebounds and one steal in just 21 minutes.
“I was excited to come back because I really enjoyed last season, so it’s a new group, and the girls were nice since the first day, but it’s [only] been two days. … I want to bring energy, defense, and try to make good decisions on offense to find my teammates and put them in the position they like and obviously do better at shooting than last season. Voilà!” Lacan told reporters postgame with a big smile on her face.
Sun guard Kennedy Burke had praise for Lacan, whom she’s played against in France in the past.
“She got off the plane and just balled out,” Burke told reporters postgame. “She’s so mature, and she already has a vet mindset and a vet style of play. And it showed today, she didn’t seem tired. She’s a great leader. I love playing with her, even though it was the first game. I’ve always been a fan of hers. … I saw the potential a long time ago.”
Arena atmosphere
Fans spread throughout the arena in seas of orange and blue, some with painted Sun logos on their cheeks, ready to take in all the action.
Heading into halftime, the Sun led by 3 points, and it seemed like the momentum was mostly even for both teams until there were just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
After Sun guard Nell Angloma was called for a foul, Connecticut head coach Rachid Meziane stomped his feet and began continuously yelling at one of the referees in frustration, resulting in a technical foul.
The crowd was fired up by the display, and momentum felt like it was shifting in the arena as fans got even more into the action. Between the third and fourth quarters, the words “The Sun Wave” showed up on the jumbotron as the camera panned to fans in the stands doing “the wave.” As they raised and lowered their arms, it sent flickers of orange around the entire arena.
The tradition of doing the wave at Sun games, in particular, comes from a season-ticket holder who was trying to get the crowd involved on her own at the team’s home games. Eventually, it just stuck.
Burke started the fourth quarter with a 3-point shot, an area in which she’s struggled at the start of this season. At this point, fans were already engaged and jumped to their feet for the t-shirt toss, screaming and waving their hands in the air, hoping to catch one.
A few minutes later, Burke made another huge play, this time on defense, blocking Los Angeles Sparks guard Rae Burrell‘s layup and sending the ball out of bounds. The Sun players on the bench jumped up as each player held out their pointer fingers, shaking them side to side to celebrate the clutch defensive play.
The energy in the arena felt lighter than usual, and smiles sat on almost everyone’s faces, as the fans could taste the team’s first home win of the season.
With 2:42 left in the game, a fan behind the Sun’s team bench yelled, “We need Saniya.” Meziane turned around and walked over to guard Saniya Rivers, who was sitting on the bench, and patted her back to sub her in. As Rivers stood to head to the scorer’s table and check in, a big smile extended across her face.
The Sun were finally able to close out a game, something they’ve struggled to do this season, coming away with an 84-81 victory.
“Yeah, I said it earlier, like the atmosphere in this arena was just amazing,” Burke said. “I feel like that played a part of our win today, and it was just a lot of fun, and knowing that we have a great group of fans behind us that support us. No matter if we’re losing games or just going through a patch, we just have to keep going, and at the end of the day, just remember just to have fun and play team basketball.”
The historic game also featured a milestone, as Sun center Brittney Griner became the 18th player to reach 6,000 career points, scoring 9 points before sustaining an injury to the face in the second quarter. Griner did not return to the game.
Sun forward Aneesah Morrow also recorded her seventh double-double of the season, a league high with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Connecticut Sun guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (4) and forward Aneesah Morrow (24) embrace one another after a WNBA game against the Los Angeles Sparks at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., on May 30, 2026. (Photo credit: Chris Poss | The IX Basketball)
At the end of the game, the players were smiling from ear to ear, embracing one another to celebrate the win. Rivers stood at center court with a microphone, addressing the fans and thanking them for their support.
“Pull up on us, at the Mohegan Sun, pull up on us,” Rivers laughed and made a car driving motion with her left hand.
Rivers then made her way over to the fans near the locker room tunnel to take pictures and sign autographs, something she does after every game, win or lose.
She approached a young fan with two braided pigtails wearing an orange No. 3 Marina Mabrey Sun jersey. Rivers signed her collectible card and then looked up to see the girl becoming emotional, so she leaned in and gave her a hug.
After pulling away, tears of joy rolled down the girl’s face. Rivers wiped away tears from the fan’s cheeks with her thumbs.
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Final season emotions
Before the New England Blizzard abruptly folded, leaving a pro basketball vacuum, Rizzotti grew up in Connecticut and stayed close to home for college, playing for UConn. Understandably, she has strong feelings about the franchise’s last season in Connecticut.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of emotions … it’s been a little bit of a roller coaster for me, kind of knowing behind the scenes that this was a possibility that the team would move; thinking about what it meant for myself personally, but also for my staff and for the fans. It’s been hard,” Rizzotti said.
Rizzotti was part of the CBA conversations and saw firsthand the fight for minimum standards for practice facilities. She knew that with the growth the WNBA has seen, the future would require those resources. There were never any deep talks about even building a Connecticut Sun practice facility, and Rizzotti knew it wasn’t necessarily in the team’s future.
“I’ve just been able to look at both sides of it, you know, feel the heartbreak, feel the disappointment as a Connecticut girl and a Connecticut native, and knowing what it means for me and my family and the fans, but also being excited that our players are going to go to a great market and have the resources of an NBA owner,” Rizzotti said.
Sun general manager Morgan Tuck has her own deep-rooted ties to the state, having attended UConn before she was drafted third overall by the Connecticut Sun in 2016.
“I think growth is always a good thing, right? So, I’ll never say that that isn’t, but Connecticut’s such a place,” Tuck told reporters pregame. “It always has been for basketball, and so I think being a part of it for so long and being here in Connecticut for so long, you’re really appreciated.
“And, obviously, when you know it’s gonna end, you appreciate it a little bit more, but it’s bittersweet. I’m excited about the future, but also sad that … a community that supported basketball for so long is losing a team, but understanding that change isn’t always negative, right? We just have to find the silver lining in it.”
The Sun community
Throughout the 23 years that the Sun have existed, a community of passionate women’s basketball fans has gathered to watch some of the top talent, but through it all, friendships have been created.
Women’s basketball super fan Angel Earle, known for her crocheted UConn and Connecticut Sun ponchos, has found a home at these basketball games.
“This fan base … we’re very close, we’re family oriented,” Earle told The IX Sports. “I have a lot of fans that call me Auntie, and I have a lot of people that say, ‘Oh my god, I look for you every game, can’t wait to see what you’re gonna be wearing,’ and the kids love me. It’s just so different, like I’m really gonna miss it. I have my own fan base, and I’m a fan. It’s the weirdest thing. I never even thought it would have happened, but it did.”
Maldonado is one of the most passionate Sun fans who found his own community here after going through a difficult time in his life. But at first, he didn’t think he could afford to take the trip to Mohegan and attend games, especially not as a season-ticket holder.
“I didn’t think I would be welcomed as a queer trans guy,” Maldonado said. “I found that I was actually very welcomed into it. I was invited to a game, and I could not stop thinking about going back. I went to a playoff game against Indiana … and I saw Dijonai [Carrington] hit that buckle up [celebration], and I was like, I have to, so I actually got season tickets because of that, and it helped me go through a really bad breakup, and I found myself surrounded by happiness and amazing energy.”
Fans still have most of the season to try to make the most of this final season, but are saddened by the loss of the team they have loved for so many years.
The Connecticut Sun will be back in Hartford to play their second and final game of the season in the city on July 2, taking on the Dallas Wings and the former UConn guard duo of Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers at PeoplesBank Arena.
