For twenty-four years, the Connecticut Sun gave a small state a large identity, weaving professional women's basketball into the fabric of a place that had long called itself the basketball capital of the world. On a Thursday evening in September, they played their final game at Mohegan Sun Arena — winning it, cleanly, 95-81 — before the franchise prepares to cross the country and resurrect a Houston legacy of its own. The departure is not an erasure but a migration, carrying forward the people, the memory, and the weight of what was built here.
Connecticut Sun closes 24-year chapter with victory before Houston relocation
The crowd never left early. They stayed with the team until the very end.
Mark
Why does a basketball team's relocation matter enough to write about? It happens in sports all the time.
Mimi
Because this wasn't just a team moving—it was a 24-year community institution closing. The Mohegan Tribe had invested in Connecticut as a basketball market when the WNBA was still fragile. They hosted the All-Star Game four times, the draft three times. That's not typical franchise behavior.
Luke
But let's be clear: the Tribe sold it. They didn't move it reluctantly. Tilman Fertitta paid $300 million. This was a business decision, not a tragedy.
Mimi
True. But the people who built the fanbase—Morgan Tuck, Jen Rizzotti—they're moving too. They're not abandoning it. They're taking it with them.
Mark
So what made Connecticut the right place in the first place?
Mimi
UConn basketball. Fifteen players from the Huskies played for the Sun. The state has 18 national championships between the men's and women's programs. It was already a basketball capital.
Luke
And now it's not a WNBA city anymore. That's the actual story—what Connecticut loses, not just what Houston gains.
Mark
Did the fans know this was coming?
Mimi
The Tribe announced the sale in March. This season was explicitly called the "sunset season." They brought back 12 legends to be honored. It was a goodbye tour.
Luke
But that doesn't mean fans were ready. Angel Earle, the season-ticket holder, said she'd cry once it hit her. The win helped, but the loss is still coming.
Mark
What happens to the Comets name now?
Mimi
It's being revived. The original Comets won four straight WNBA titles from 1997 to 2000. Houston's bringing that history back.
Luke
And Brittney Griner, who signed specifically to move with the team to her hometown—that's the human thread. She gets to go home. But 461 wins and 375 losses in Connecticut just ends.
El Pulso
- A 24-year residency ended not in defeat but in a 95-81 victory, giving the crowd something to hold onto as the goodbye became real.
- Brittney Griner ran the perimeter of the court with the team flag after the final buzzer, turning a postgame moment into something closer to a procession.
- Team president Jen Rizzotti wept through her farewell address, and the fans — who had stayed through every minute of the ceremony — absorbed it without leaving.
- The Mohegan Tribe, which bought the franchise for $10 million in 2003 and repeatedly stabilized the WNBA during lean years, sold it to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta for a reported $300 million.
- The franchise moves to Houston in 2027 to revive the Comets name, a team that won four consecutive WNBA titles from 1997 to 2000, trading one storied identity for the chance to reclaim another.
For twenty-four years, the Connecticut Sun gave a small state a large identity, weaving professional women's basketball into the fabric of a place that had long called itself the basketball capital of the world. On a Thursday evening in September, they played their final game at Mohegan Sun Arena — winning it, cleanly, 95-81 — before the franchise prepares to cross the country and resurrect a Houston legacy of its own. The departure is not an erasure but a migration, carrying forward the people, the memory, and the weight of what was built here.
The Connecticut Sun played their last game at Mohegan Sun Arena on a Thursday evening, winning 95-81 against Toronto and closing a 24-year chapter with the kind of clean finish that rarely arrives on schedule. Next season, the franchise will play in Houston, reviving the Comets name and joining a lineage that won four consecutive WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000.
The night carried more weight than the scoreboard could hold. Brittney Griner — an All-Star who signed with Connecticut specifically to move with the team to her hometown — grabbed the team flag after the final buzzer and ran the perimeter of the court, saluting the crowd. Jen Rizzotti, the team president, addressed the arena through tears. Aaliyah Edwards, who scored 16 points, noted that the fans never left early. They stayed through the ceremony, stayed until the very end.
General manager Morgan Tuck, who was drafted by the Sun a decade earlier in that same building, will move to Houston alongside Rizzotti. She called the moment bittersweet before the game, and the word seemed insufficient. The Sun finished their Connecticut tenure with 461 wins, 375 losses, six playoff appearances, and four Finals runs. Twelve franchise legends were honored during the farewell season — Nykesha Sales, Lindsay Whalen, Tina Charles, Jonquel Jones, and others — a deliberate accounting of what the program had meant.
Connecticut had always been a natural home for this. The state built its basketball identity on 18 national championships between the UConn men's and women's programs, and fifteen Huskies played for the Sun over its tenure. Rebecca Lobo was on the inaugural roster. When Napheesa Collier returned to Mohegan Sun Arena for the last time as a visiting player, she felt the pull of that history — she had played college games in the same building.
The Mohegan Tribe purchased the franchise for $10 million in 2003 and spent more than two decades as one of the WNBA's most stabilizing forces, hosting the All-Star Game four times and the draft for three consecutive years. When they announced the sale to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta in March — at a reported price of $300 million — the distance between those two numbers told the story of how much the league had grown. The WNBA Board of Governors ratified the sale in May.
The 2026 season had been framed as a farewell tour from the start. The team finished 11-33, a record that mattered less than the ritual of the ending. In the stands after the final victory, season-ticket holder Angel Earle said she knew the sadness would come later, when the reality settled in. For now, she was happy they had won on their way out. The crowd, as Edwards had noted, refused to leave early.
The Connecticut Sun took the court at Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday evening for the last time as a franchise rooted in the state. They won 95-81 against Toronto, a clean finish to a 24-year residency that began when the Mohegan Tribe purchased the team for $10 million in 2003, inheriting it from the Orlando Miracle. Next season, the Sun will play in Houston, reviving the Comets name and joining a franchise that won four consecutive WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000.
The final game carried weight that transcended the scoreboard. Brittney Griner, an All-Star who signed with Connecticut this season specifically to move with the team to her hometown, grabbed the team flag from the mascot after the final buzzer and ran the perimeter of the court, saluting the crowd. Jen Rizzotti, the team president, addressed the arena through tears, her voice breaking as she thanked the fans for their loyalty across nearly a quarter-century. Aaliyah Edwards, who scored 16 points in the victory, noted that the crowd never left early—they stayed through the postgame ceremony, stayed with the team until the very end.
Morgan Tuck, the general manager, carried the weight of the moment visibly. She was drafted by the Sun a decade earlier in that same arena, and she will move to Houston with Rizzotti to lead the franchise into its next chapter. "It's bittersweet," she said before the game. "To think all the years this team has been here and the legacy." The Sun's record in Connecticut was 461 wins and 375 losses. They made the playoffs six times and reached the WNBA Finals four times. This season, the team brought back 12 legends to be honored—Nykesha Sales, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Lindsay Whalen, Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones, and Tina Charles among them—a deliberate recognition of the program's history.
Connecticut had always been a natural home for professional women's basketball. The state calls itself the basketball capital of the world, a claim built on 18 national championships between the UConn men's and women's teams. Fifteen players from UConn played for the Sun over its tenure. Rebecca Lobo was on the inaugural roster. This season, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Edwards represented the Huskies. When Napheesa Collier, now a guard for the Minnesota Lynx, returned to Mohegan Sun Arena for what would be her final visit, she felt the weight of that connection. She had played college games in that same building. "The legacy, the amazing names hanging from the rafters that we recognize today," she said. "They have an amazing history here."
The Mohegan Tribe's ownership group had been instrumental in stabilizing the WNBA itself. The league held its All-Star Game at Mohegan Sun Arena four times—in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2015. The draft was held there for three consecutive years, 2014 through 2016. Cheryl Reeve, the Minnesota Lynx coach and a WNBA veteran since 2001, acknowledged this contribution directly. "They were willing to bail the league out a number of times," she said. When the Mohegan Tribe announced on March 30 that it would sell the franchise to Tilman Fertitta, the Houston Rockets owner, the reported price was $300 million. The WNBA Board of Governors ratified the sale in May.
The 2026 season had been deliberately framed as a sunset year—a farewell tour. The roster was young and built for the future, but that future would unfold in Houston, not Connecticut. The team finished 11-33, a record that mattered less than the moment itself. Angel Earle, a season-ticket holder for years, sat in the crowd after the final victory. "It was great. Oh, my God, we got the win," she said. She knew the sadness would come later, when the reality settled in. For now, she was happy for the team, happy they had won on their way out. The shape of the roster and coaching staff for Houston remain undetermined, but the Sun's Connecticut chapter closed with a victory and a crowd that refused to leave early.
Citas Notables
It's bittersweet. To think all the years this team has been here and the legacy.— Morgan Tuck, Connecticut Sun general manager
The legacy, the amazing names hanging from the rafters that we recognize today. They have an amazing history here.— Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx guard, on her final visit to Mohegan Sun Arena
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