The winds of change haven’t blown Jasmine Thomas’ focus away from her most pressing basketball goal.
The Connecticut Sun on Wednesday point guard reflected on her team’s WNBA championship near-miss, telling their website extent of her disappointment over it. The Sun excelled in the regular season and most of the WNBA playoffs before ultimately falling one game short of winning their first championship. Five-plus months have passed since Connecticut lost to the Washington Mystics in the winner-take all Game 5 of 2019 WNBA Finals, and the agony of defeat lingers for Thomas, who is determined to overcome that final hurdle in 2020.
“Last season was incredible, but heartbreaking,” she said. “It felt amazing making it to the finals with a group that had absolutely become family to me and for a fan base that truly deserves a championship. Because of all that, the disappointment of falling short hurt deep. I want nothing more than to get back there and win it all and I believe we’ve put together a new team that can do just that.”
The Sun have experienced significant roster turnover this offseason, with Morgan Tuck, Courtney Williams and Rachael Banham among noteable departures and DeWanna Bonner, Briann January and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis representing Connecticut’s highest-profile arrivals. The Sun also might bolster their roster Friday in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
Like other sports leagues, the coronavirus has forced the WNBA to postpone the start of the 2020 season. Whenever play tips off, Thomas undoubtedly will be raring to go that one final step.
