Sun Fall to Liberty 106-75 in Season Opener
WNBA Connecticut Sun

Sun Fall to Liberty 106-75 in Season Opener

Published on May 8, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release


Brooklyn, NY - Tonight, the Connecticut Sun (0-1) opened the 2026 regular season with a 106-75 loss to the New York Liberty (1-0) inside Barclays.

Diamond Miller led the Sun and set a new career high with 16 points, while also adding three rebounds and two steals. Teammates Aneesah Morrow and Brittney Griner followed with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Breanna Stewart paced all scorers with 31 points and 10 rebounds, while Julie Vanloo chipped in 11 assists.

New York opened the contest with a layup from Stewart, but Miller quickly responded with a basket of her own for the Sun. The Liberty got out to an eight-point lead with Marine Johannès finding success behind the three-point line and Pauline Astier converting an and-one opportunity at the line. Griner got started for the Sun recording her first basket of the game attempting to find an offensive rhythm for the Sun. Kennedy Burke, Morrow, and Charlisse Leger-Walker earned two points apiece; however, New York continued to dominate on the offensive end, leading by 15 points with a little under four minutes remaining in the first. Hailey Van Lith broke the scoring drought for the Sun, logging her first two points in a Sun jersey. Connecticut trailed the Liberty, 36-13, at the end of the first.

The Liberty's momentum continued in the second frame, as Betnijah Laney-Hamilton extended New York's lead to 40-13 with back-to-back jumpers. Rookie Gianna Kneepkens responded with a three to get the offense started for the Sun. Van Lith logged another three for the Sun, but Johannès responded with a three of her own. Connecticut started to find their rhythm offensively with Miller and Morrow earning consecutive buckets to push into the lead 23-46. A personal foul by Astier sent Miller to the charity stripe, where she completed a three-point play. The Liberty continued their offensive rhythm and capitalized off second chance points as they pushed out to a 66-37 lead at the half. Griner led the Sun with nine points, followed by Miller with eight.

The Liberty opened the third quarter with a turnover that led to Burke tipping it in after a three-point miss from Morrow. It was all Connecticut within the first two minutes with Miller cutting into the lead with five points in 28 seconds. Miller's defensive efforts forced a turnover from Laney-Hamilton and both teams traded blocks before Morrow turned in a layup to bring the score to 68-48. Despite a quiet first half, Saniya Rivers got started with a block on Astier and turned her defensive play into a jumper on the other end for her first points of the contest. A loose ball foul from Astier put Burke on the move as she found Griner for two. Morrow picked up her fourth foul of the game, giving New York control and Stewart capitalized with a turnaround jumper. Johannès maintained her offensive prowess from deep with a 24' pullup, pushing the Liberty out of reach and forcing a timeout. Immediately out of the timeout, Miller earned two in the paint giving her 15 on the night. With three minutes left in the quarter, Morrow picked up three from 25'. Following a trip to the free throw line for Laney-Hamilton, Leger-Walker converted a reverse lay-up to bring her total to four points on the night. Missed shots and turnovers plagued both teams down the stretch, but Kneepkens used a 12' jumper to bring the score to 80-60. The Sun remained scoreless for the rest of the frame but allowed a floater from Stewart and sent the Liberty to the free throw line twice to end the quarter.

Van Lith opened the final quarter with a 4-point run to get the offense started for the Sun. After coming alive in the third, Kneepkens dialed in a step back jumper to give the Sun a slight offensive boost with Griner following with a bank hook. In the final two minutes, Morrow recorded six points in the paint, while the Liberty recorded seven points to close the game, 106-75.

The Sun were 38.6% from the field compared to the Liberty's 52.2%. The Liberty bested the Sun in rebounds, 53-43. New York grabbed nine steals to Connecticut's five.

Notes:

All of the Sun's rookies scored in their first regular season WNBA outing.

The Liberty outperformed the Sun in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, and three-point field goal percentage.

Stewart passed Lauren Jackson for 15th on the WNBA's all-time scoring list with 6,008.

With 16 points in the contest, Diamond Miller tallied a new career-high.

Team Score Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 PTS REB AST

CON 75 13 24 23 15 Miller - 16 Morrow, Griner - 6 Rivers - 6

NYL 106 36 30 21 19 Stewart - 31 Stewart - 10 Vanloo - 11

NEXT GAME: The Connecticut Sun return home to face the Seattle Storm in the Sunset Season Home Opener at Mohegan Sun Arena, on Sunday, May 10 at 1:00 p.m. EST.

Check out the Connecticut Sun Statistics

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