The Connecticut Sun finalized their new-look 2025 roster on Thursday, and though WNBA teams can only carry 12 players during the regular season, the Sun enter their season opener against the Washington Mystics on Sunday with 13 officially part of the squad.
French guard Leila Lacan, the team’s 2024 first-round draft pick, is expected to play in the WNBA for the first time this year, but she is currently still overseas competing for the Ligue Feminine (LFB) Championship with her French club Basket Landes. The LFB season doesn’t end until Friday, and Lacan is also expected to play with Team France in the EuroBasket tournament beginning June 18, so her contract is temporarily suspended until she reports to the Sun.
Advertisement
Connecticut made its final two training camp cuts Thursday morning, waiving veteran guards Diamond DeShields and Yvonne Anderson. Anderson signed a two-year contract with the Sun with $85,000 protected in 2025, so the team will still pay out her salary on top of its active roster, but the extra cost wasn’t a major concern with the Sun currently almost $700,000 below the salary cap. The final roster includes seven players competing on rookie-scale contracts, and only two veterans are set to make more than $100,000 this season.
DeShields, the No. 3 pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, was one of two notable free agent signings for the Sun this offseason alongside eight-time All-Star Tina Charles, and she was set to earn $115,000 in 2025. But DeShields was sidelined for the majority of training camp by a right ankle injury, continuing a streak of health issues that have plagued the last several years of her career. It’s unclear whether the guard’s injury was sustained before or during training camp, and the Sun will still have to pay her salary if it occurred while she was with the team.
Connecticut is overwhelmingly young this season with the notable exception of Charles, a 13-year veteran who will be essential both on the court and as a steady presence in the locker room. The Sun have just two returners from 2024 in star guard Marina Mabrey and former UConn standout Olivia Nelson-Ododa, who both mostly came off the bench last year.
Here’s who made Connecticut’s 2025 roster for opening day:
Lindsay Allen, guard
Height: 5-8
Advertisement
Experience: 7 years
The Sun are Allen’s seventh team in eight seasons, but she has been a reliable contributor at every stop. The former Notre Dame point guard averaged 6.6 points and 3.9 assists shooting 46.6% from the field in 24 minutes per game with the Chicago Sky last season.
Tina Charles, forward
Height: 6-4
Experience: 13 years
Charles was drafted No. 1 overall by the Sun in 2010 and earned 2013 WNBA MVP honors with the team. The former UConn star returns to Connecticut more than a decade later as the second-highest scoring player in league history and the career rebounding leader. She averaged 14.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists with the Atlanta Dream in 2024.
Kariata Diaby, center
Height: 6-4
Advertisement
Experience: Rookie
Diaby has never competed in the WNBA but has six years of experience overseas. She played under first-year coach Rachid Meziane on Villeneuve d’Ascq in the LFB for four seasons, and she averaged 14.3 points plus 7.4 rebounds with French club Bourges in 2024-25.
Bria Hartley, guard
Height: 5-9
Experience: 9 years
Hartley hasn’t played in the WNBA since a season-ending ACL tear in 2022 and made the Sun’s opening roster despite signing a training camp contract just five days ago. The former UConn star was signed with Connecticut for three games before the 2022 injury and averaged 4.7 points in 12 minutes per game.
Marina Mabrey, guard
Height: 5-11
Advertisement
Experience: 6 years
Mabrey was traded to Connecticut at the 2024 All-Star break and averaged 14.9 points plus 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in nearly 28 minutes per game off the bench. The former Notre Dame star shot a career-high 46.7% from the field plus 42.4% from 3-point range over 16 games with the Sun, and she’s set to be an even bigger contributor in 2025 as the team’s offensive centerpiece.
Rayah Marshall, forward
Height: 6-4
Experience: Rookie
Marshall was drafted with the No. 25 pick in the second round of the 2025 WNBA Draft after averaging 7.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in her senior season at USC. She was a Big Ten All-Defensive selection in 2025 and made the All-Pac-12 First Team as a sophomore in 2023.
Aneesah Morrow, forward
Height: 6-1
Advertisement
Experience: Rookie
Morrow was drafted No. 7 overall after averaging 20.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals in her senior season at LSU. She won the Katrina McLain Award for the nation’s best power forward in 2025, finishing her college basketball career ranked third all-time in career rebounds and second in career double-doubles.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, center
Height: 6-5
Experience: 3 years
Nelson-Ododa is poised to take on a starting role for the first time in her WNBA career coming off a strong overseas season in China. The former UConn standout averaged 3.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game for the Sun in 2024.
Robyn Parks, forward
Height: 6-1
Advertisement
Experience: 1 year
Parks last played in the WNBA with the Chicago Sky in 2023, where she averaged 3.9 points and 1.6 rebounds shooting nearly 37% from 3-point range in 13.6 minutes per game. The 32-year-old forward graduated from VCU in 2014 and spent eight years playing overseas in Spain before making her WNBA debut.
Haley Peters, forward
Height: 6-3
Experience: 3 years
Peters hasn’t played in the WNBA since a four-game stint with the Atlanta Dream in 2019, but she also played brief stretches with the San Antonio Silver Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces) from 2016-17 and the Washington Mystics in 2017. The 32-year-old Duke alum has spent most of her career overseas including several years in the LFB, and she played for Meziane’s Villeneuve d’Ascq in 2020-21.
Saniya Rivers, guard
Height: 6-1
Advertisement
Experience: Rookie
Rivers was drafted No. 8 in the 2025 WNBA Draft after averaging 11.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in her senior season at NC State. She was a two-time All-ACC first team and All-Defensive team selection. Rivers missed much of training camp to return home to North Carolina after the unexpected death of her mother, but she rejoined team practices Monday.
Jacy Sheldon, guard
Height: 5-10
Experience: 1 year
Sheldon was drafted No. 5 in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings, and she was traded to Connecticut as part of the historic four-team deal that also included the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever. The former Ohio State star made 26 starts in her rookie season and averaged 5.4 points plus 2.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds playing 23.3 minutes per game.
