Connecticut
NY Liberty vs. Connecticut Sun preview: Saturday Showdown in Uncasville
Taking care of business. The New York Liberty continued their Commissioner’s Cup road trip in Atlanta vs. the Dream on Thursday night. It wasn’t the smoothest affair on offense, but the Liberty did more than enough to come away with another double digit victory. They are 3-0 in Cup play and have won their last five games.
The opponent today is the best in the WNBA thus far in 2024. The Connecticut Sun are 9-0 and have gotten off to the best start in franchise history. They’ve been off since Tuesday after beating the Washington Mystics, 76-59.
Where to follow the game
ABC is the place to be. Tip after 1:00 p.m. ET.
Injuries
Courtney Vandersloot missed Thursday’s game due to personal reasons. She’s officially listed as doubtful for today. Nyara Sabally will miss this game as she continues to recover from a back injury.
Moriah Jefferson is questionable with an ankle injury.
The game
Safe to say, the winner of this game will be representing the Eastern Conference in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game on June 25. These two teams engaged in hand-to-hand combat in last year’s playoff semifinals and figure to see each other in the playoffs once again.
The atmosphere for this one promises to be electric. NetsDaily will be on the scene covering this one and we’ll have plenty of sights and sounds to share. Also, keep an eye out for Liberty fans making the bus trip up to Uncasville to cheer on the home team.
Even when you’re undefeated, there’s still room to get better. On Wednesday, the Sun added some guard depth when they signed Veronica Burton to a rest-of-season contract
To create room, they waived Queen Egbo. With Jefferson’s status up in the air, having another guard will help keep things moving along.
The battle at center will be a fascinating one. Brionna Jones is still working her way back from the Achilles tear she suffered last year. She’s on a minutes restriction, but she’s made the most out of her time on the court. Bri is good for 13 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes a night thus far, and as the season progresses, we’ll see how Stephanie White utilizes her All Star big the further away she is from the injury. Bri will have her hands full against Jonquel Jones this afternoon. The counting stats of 10/8/2/3 don’t tell the full story of how Jones made life difficult on the Dream on the inside. When the Liberty win, it’s when Jones is avoiding foul trouble and wreaking havoc on both sides of the court.
Who will Dijonai Carrington guard this afternoon? The Sun guard has been magnificent this season and has taken on the challenge of guarding the opponent’s best perimeter player. Chances are, she’ll start with Sabrina Ionescu. It was a quiet night at the office for Sab, but she still managed to find her way to the basket. That ability to find her way to the basket will lead to plenty of scoring opportunities for herself and her teammates throughout the day.
On the other side, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton will get the DeWanna Bonner assignment. DB has been her customary excellent self and is ninth in the W in scoring at 19.1 points per game. Bonner is the player the Sun can turn to late for key baskets when the game is on the line. For Laney-Hamilton, she’ll be tasked with forcing Bonner into tough shots.
This game might come down to 3-point shooting. The Sun are last in the WNBA in three point shooting at 29.8%. However, the Libs aren’t that much better at 31.6%. You wonder if today will be the day New York starts to look like themselves from three point range. It would be the perfect time for a renaissance.
Player to watch: Alyssa Thomas
The Engine is back and better than ever. She’s playing at an MVP level and is once again averaging close to a triple double every night she’s on the court. She’s “only” seventh in the WNBA in minutes per game this season, which is a relief considering how much she had to shoulder last season. With healthier teammates around her, Thomas can get some more rest in this congested regular season. However, we all know that she can give you a full 40 minutes when the time calls for it.
Breanna Stewart is starting to heat up a bit. She’s scored 58 points in her last two games and been the focal point of the Liberty attack. The three point shooting still isn’t there for her, but the Liberty have made up for it by finding her on the move and getting her shot attempts close to the rim. In what promises to be a physical game, her patience and off-ball movement will be immensely valuable.
From the Vault
Kaytranada is back with a new album, so let’s throw it back to one of his greatest mixes
More reading: Swish Appeal, CT Insider, Hartford Courant, Chicago Sun Times, The Strickland, The Local W, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic. Fansided, Just Women’s Sports, SI All Knicks, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, CBS Sports, and The Next
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
Connecticut
Suspect in preppy booze-fueled Connecticut party stabbing death asks court to drop charges: ‘Double jeopardy’
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The attorney for a Connecticut man who was recently acquitted of first-degree murder charges stemming from a booze-fueled brawl between prep school students is making another move to ensure his client’s freedom.
Last July, a jury found Raul Valle, now 19, not guilty of murder and intentional manslaughter in the May 14, 2022 stabbing death of James “Jimmy” McGrath. Valle was 16 at the time of the incident, and McGrath was 17.
The jury was deadlocked on lesser charges of reckless manslaughter in that trial, leading to a partial mistrial.
Valle attended St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, near Fairfield Prep, where McGrath was a junior and star lacrosse player. Prior to the stabbing that evening, both had been at a house party that involved underage drinking and a fight.
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Split image of Jimmy McGrath showing him in a collared shirt and tie and in his Fairfield College Preparatory School lacrosse uniform. (The McGrath Family)
After heading to another location to continue partying, tempers flared again and about 25 people engaged in another brawl on the front lawn of the second home, whose owners were present at the time, witnesses told police. It was during that fight that the stabbing death occurred.
Valle admitted to the stabbing, but said it was committed in self-defense and in defense of a friend.
The day after Valle’s July 9, 2025, acquittal on the most serious charges, the state filed new reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges.
Raul Valle speaks during his second day of testimony at his murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 1, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
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Now, Valle’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, has filed a motion claiming that the reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges constitute double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional, according to The Connecticut Post.
Crosland’s motion says the only explanation for the initial jury’s decision to acquit on the first-degree murder charge was that his client acted in self-defense.
“No other theory explains the acquittals,” he wrote in the motion.
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Defense attorney Kevin Smith delivers his closing arguments to the jury during Raul Valle’s murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 3, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
“The jury has spoken,” he continued. “The law is clear. The court must dismiss these charges with prejudice — immediately.”
The Connecticut Post reported that in an interview after Valle’s acquittal, the jury foreperson said self-defense was not discussed.
In their own filing, prosecutors disagreed with Crosland’s reasoning, according to the report.
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They described self-defense as a “justification defense,” not one that is central to the elements of the charges Valle still faces, and thus, cannot be used as an argument to have the current charges dismissed.
Kevin McGrath, father of slain prep school lacrosse player Jimmy McGrath, speaks to reporters outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, following Raul Valle’s acquittal on July 9, 2025. He is accompanied by family attorney Michael Rosnick. (Fox News)
“The fact that the jury acquitted the defendant of murder, intentional manslaughter and intentional assaults, but could not reach a unanimous verdict as to the reckless charges, demonstrates only that the jury must have reached the conclusion that the defendant lacked the specific intent to either kill or to cause serious physical injury,” the filing reportedly said.
McGrath’s family was shocked by the results of the 2025 trial.
“I’m astonished at the results, but, you know, it’s due process,” a stoic Kevin McGrath said outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, later describing his son as a “wonderful person.”
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“He’s entitled to it,” said McGrath. “And at the end of the day, the jury made their verdict. I’m not sure if, you know, they were in the same courtroom as we all were together, but that’s the verdict. And we’ll live with it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Crosland for comment.
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