UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Despite ending the season with a loss, the Connecticut Sun can look towards the future with hope for the near future.

The 2025 WNBA season came to an end for the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday with an 88-72 loss to the Atlanta Dream.

The Sun fell behind early in the first quarter and quickly found themselves trailing by double-digits. The visitors pulled away late in the first, riding a 17-2 run to take an 18-point lead into the second.

The deficit only grew in the second quarter as the Dream added to their advantage. Atlanta led by as many as 24 in the first half, holding Connecticut to under 30% from the field.

The Sun clawed their way back into the game behind a valiant third-quarter effort from Saniya Rivers, who scored nine of her 16 points to help cut the deficit to single digits.

Connecticut used a 14-2 run to get within striking distance, trailing by nine with just three minutes remaining in the quarter.

But the Sun could not keep up the momentum and the Dream’s lead climbed above 10 heading into the fourth and never came back down.

“We didn’t give (ourselves) an opportunity to win the game, starting like that,” Connecticut Sun coach Rachid Meziane said after the game.

“I appreciate the reaction of my players (and) my team in the second quarter and third quarter… we wanted to finish the season with one win, unfortunately we could not get this win. But this season has been a long journey with lots of ups and downs.”

The Sun finish the 2025 season with an 11-33 record, the worst regular season record in franchise history by winning percentage (.250). The team also experienced its longest losing streak in franchise history (10) and will miss the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2016.

But despite the struggles of the entire season, the future of the franchise looks bright. The Sun were 8-14 after the All-Star break, highlighted by a three-game win streak in late August.

The growth and progress of Connecticut’s first-round draft picks Saniya Rivers and Aneesah Mitchell over the year, in addition to the mid-season additions of Leïla Lacan and Aliyah Edwards, have given the Sun a young core to build around for the future.

“We will be more prepared (next season),” Meziane said. “We cannot buy experience, but I do think that what our young players did this year, we’ll put them in a better situation and I’ll be ready to start the season.

“I’m very excited to start the next season because I know that we are going to do better and I will be better.”