UNCASVILLE — Saniya Rivers could feel the spirit of her mother Demetria beaming with pride during the Connecticut Sun‘s game against the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night.
Demetria died suddenly during Rivers’ rookie season, just days after the start of 2025 training camp, and while nothing will compare to the emotional difficulty of last year, that grief still weighs heavily on Rivers. The one-year anniversary of her mother’s death came on April 30, the day after the Sun’s first preseason game against the Toronto Tempo. The team played its home opener on Mother’s Day last Sunday, and the matchup with the Aces fell on what would have been Demetria’s 49th birthday.
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Rivers hoped she could lead the Sun to their first win of 2026 as a birthday gift to her mother, but even though the team fell, 101-94, to the reigning WNBA champions, Rivers’ individual performance felt like a celebration. The second-year guard had her best game of the season, putting up 14 points, a career-high seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block.
“My mindset going into the game was that I wanted to get a win for my mom’s birthday, and we didn’t get it, but I played a great game and we cut it to a smaller deficit than the last game,” Rivers said with a smile. “So I’m pretty sure my mom’s smiling from ear to ear right now.”
Saniya Rivers, Aneesah Morrow bring confidence, chemistry into second year with Connecticut Sun
Rivers started this season in a slump, shooting 2-for-12 across the team’s two preseason games, then averaging 20% from the field over the first three regular-season matchups. She gave up eight turnovers, tying the most she’s had over any three-game span in her career, and went three straight games without recording a steal.
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Part of the problem was the Sun’s use of Rivers at point guard early on. With starting point guard Leila Lacan still overseas and no other experienced players in the position, coach Rachid Meziane experimented with Rivers, who typically plays shooting guard or wing, as the primary ball-handler during preseason and in the opener against the New York Liberty. While she played some point guard in college at NC State, making the adjustment at the pro level didn’t come naturally for Rivers.
“I embrace challenges, and I’m never going to back down from it,” Rivers said. “(Meziane and I) had a conversation after New York just about my comfort level with the point guard, and I told him I’m obviously not the best at it, I’m not the most comfortable, but for my team I’ll do anything.”
Even after moving back into her usual position, it took time for Rivers to find some footing again. She got so caught up in trying to facilitate and help the team succeed that she lost sight of the importance of her own performance.
“I think now I’m at the point where I have to get my confidence back, and I’ve got to start telling myself this shot is going in,” Rivers said after the Sun’s 89-82 loss to the Seattle Storm last Sunday. “I’m hoping that my teammates will continue to believe in me, and I’m hoping I’ll continue to believe in myself … I think I’ve been in my head about the whole point guard thing, because I didn’t want to mess up.”
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Rivers’ teammates never wavered in their faith in her, and it showed in Friday’s hard-fought loss. The second-year guard hadn’t hit a single 3-pointer in 2026, missing eight straight attempts including the preseason games, but her breakthrough against the Aces was headlined by a pair of back-to-back makes from beyond the arc when Connecticut desperately needed a spark in the third quarter. The first came after a defensive miscommunication by Vegas that left Rivers standing completely unguarded on the wing, and rookie Nell Angloma managed to kick the ball out of a crowd in the paint for Rivers to knock down the triple.
A few seconds later, Rivers nabbed a steal and made a pass in transition to rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker, who got a fairly open look from the perimeter. But Leger-Walker’s point guard instinct told her to go back to the hot hand. As Aces star Chelsea Gray jumped to get a hand in Leger-Walker’s face, the rookie kept her eyes on the rim and flicked a no-look pass to Rivers standing a few feet behind the arc. Rivers launched the shot without hesitation, and it didn’t even graze the rim as it dropped.
“As soon as I hit those threes, I went straight to the bench and thanked my teammates for just believing in me,” Rivers said. “Obviously the first couple of games, I’ve been missing some shots that I typically make … but I’ve given myself grace. I’ve received grace from my teammates and the coaches. Char hit me on a ‘one more’ coming down in transition, and they’re all like ‘Shoot it, shoot it!’ I was like ‘Me? Okay, I’ll shoot again.’ They’ve instilled a lot of confidence in me.”
The version of Rivers that showed up Friday night is the one the Sun desperately need as they embark on a five-game road trip on the West coast. The team’s next matchup is against the Portland Fire on Monday night, where they will look to avoid starting 0-5 for just the third time in franchise history. The Sun lost five straight to open the season in 2020 and 2025, but it has never gone six games without a win over its 23 years in Connecticut.
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“My goal is really just to come in and be 1% better every day, whether that’s for myself, whether it’s for my team, whether it’s for my family,” Rivers said. “I think for now, I’m doing a pretty good job of that.”
Attendance dips in ‘Sunset Season’
The Sun averaged their highest attendance ever in 2025 and sold out of season tickets for the first time in franchise history, but fans’ enthusiasm seems to be waning with the team on the way out of Connecticut. On Wednesday, the franchise’s sale and relocation to Houston for the 2027 season was unanimously approved by the WNBA Board of Governors.
Through the first three home games of the 2026 season, the Sun are averaging 6,697 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena, a nearly 20% decrease from the 8,307 it averaged over the first three home games of 2025. Last year’s figure is slightly inflated because the team’s third home game was against the Dallas Wings and beloved former UConn superstar Paige Bueckers, who was making her professional debut in Connecticut, but attendance was better even for comparable matchups last season. The Sun drew 8,179 fans for their second 2025 home game against the Aces, but Friday’s matchup with the reigning WNBA champions drew 7,265. The home opener also saw a slight drop from 7,834 fans in 2025 to 7,374 this year.
With Connecticut Sun relocation to Houston finalized, franchise can begin transition process
