The 2005 WNBA season was their 7th season and their 3rd in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the third consecutive season and were successful. They also attempted to return to the WNBA Finals for the second consecutive year and were successful.

Offseason

WNBA Draft

Pick	Player	Nationality	School
8	Katie Feenstra		Liberty
21	Erin Phillips		Australia
34	Megan Mahoney		Kansas State

Transactions

• May 16: The Sun waived Maria Conlon and Anna Montanana.
• May 11: The Sun waived Jess Strom.
• May 9: The Sun waived Jennifer Lacy.
• May 5: The Sun signed Taj McWilliams-Franklin to a contract extension.
• May 5: The Sun waived Erika Valek.
• May 3: The Sun waived Candace Futrell.
• April 29: The Sun waived Katie Endress, Beth Swink, Dena Williams, Petra Glaeser, and Shannon Howell.
• April 27: The Sun signed Beth Swink and Jennifery Lacy.
• April 22: The Sun signed Jess Strom.
• April 21: The Sun signed Katie Endress.
• April 19: The Sun signed Anna Montanana.
• April 18: The Sun signed Dena Williams and Maria Conlon.
• April 13: The Sun signed Erika Valek.

Roster

Season Standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	GB
Connecticut Sun	26	8	.765	0
Indiana Fever	21	13	.618	5
New York Liberty	18	16	.529	8
Detroit Shock	16	18	.471	10
Washington Mystics	16	18	.471	10
Charlotte Sting	6	28	.176	20

Schedule

Preseason

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	May 1	Minnesota	W 76-71	1-0
2	May 8	Charlotte	W 69-64	2-0
3	May 12	@ Houston	L 57-67	2-1
4	May 14	@ Minnesota	W 91-66	3-1

Regular Season

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	May 21	@ Detroit	L 67-78	0-1
2	May 22	@ Washington	W 68-67	1-1
3	May 28	Phoenix	W 85-68	2-1
4	June 4	San Antonio	W 80-69	3-1
5	June 7	Seattle	W 81-69	4-1
6	June 10	@ Houston	W 77-57	5-1
7	June 11	@ San Antonio	W 78-69	6-1
8	June 18	Detroit	W 73-63	7-1
9	June 20	@ Los Angeles	W 90-70	8-1
10	June 22	@ Seattle	L 86-95	8-2
11	June 24	@ Sacramento	W 61-50	9-2
12	June 25	@ Phoenix	W 77-69	10-2
13	June 28	Sacramento	W 70-66	11-2
14	June 30	Minnesota	W 71-56	12-2
15	July 7	@ New York	L 79-89	12-3
16	July 13	@ Indiana	L 53-64	12-4
17	July 15	Houston	W 70-66	13-4
18	July 17	@ Minnesota	W 72-53	14-4
19	July 19	@ Charlotte	W 64-55	15-4
20	July 20	@ Detroit	L 57-66	15-5
21	July 22	Charlotte	W 73-63	16-5
22	July 26	Indiana	W 68-55	17-5
23	July 28	New York	W 73-70	18-5
24	July 30	Detroit	L 66-75	18-6
25	August 2	@ New York	W 72-65	19-6
26	August 6	@ Indiana	W 74-65	20-6
27	August 9	Los Angeles	W 64-51	21-6
28	August 11	@ Washington	W 80-65	22-6
29	August 14	Washington	W 80-77	23-6
30	August 18	Charlotte	W 84-70	24-6
31	August 20	New York	L 58-64	24-7
32	August 23	Indiana	L 63-69	24-8
33	August 26	Washington	W 81-47	25-8
34	August 27	@ Charlotte	W 78-69	26-8

Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Detroit Shock. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Detroit, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. Even though Detroit had won three of the four regular season meetings, the Sun swept the Shock and game 3 was not needed. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Indiana Fever. Again, the Sun had the better record and the series would be played with game 1 at Indiana and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun swept the Fever and game 3 was not needed. The Sun advanced to the WNBA Finals. The team would be facing off against the Sacramento Monarchs. The Sun had the better record so the series would be played with games 1, 2, and 5 at Connecticut and games 3 and 4 at Sacramento. In the regular season, the Sun had beaten the Monarchs in both meetings. It was not enough, however. The Monarchs beat the Sun 3 games to 1 to win the WNBA Finals.

• For the third consecutive season, the Sun qualify for the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
• For the third consecutive season, the Sun advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
• For the second consecutive season, the Sun advance to the WNBA Finals.

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Type
1	August 31	@ Detroit	W 73-62	1-0	Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals, Game 1
2	September 2	Detroit	W 75-67	2-0	Eastern Conf. Semi-Finals, Game 2
3	September 8	@ Indiana	W 73-68	3-0	Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1
4	September 10	Indiana	W 77-67 (OT)	4-0	Eastern Conference Finals, Game 2
5	September 14	Sacramento	L 55-79	4-1	WNBA Finals, Game 1
6	September 15	Sacramento	W 77-70 (OT)	5-1	WNBA Finals, Game 2
7	September 18	@ Sacramento	L 55-66	5-2	WNBA Finals, Game 3
8	September 20	@ Sacramento	L 59-62	5-3	WNBA Finals, Game 4

Depth

Player stats

• http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2005/

Awards and Honors

• Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Nykesha Sales were named to the WNBA All-Star team.
• Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
• Katie Douglas was named to the All-Defensive First Team.
• Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
• Taj McWilliams-Franklin was given the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award.
• Lindsay Whalen was given the Off Season Community Assist Award.
• Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named WNBA Player of the Week for the week of June 13th, 2005.
• Lindsay Whalen was named WNBA Player of the Week for the week of June 27th, 2005.
• Katie Douglas was named WNBA Player of the Week for the week of August 15th, 2005.

References