Update, Oct. 11, 2019:
The Connecticut Sun came up short Thursday night, with an 89-78 loss to the Washington Mystics in front of a sold-out crowd in Washington, D.C. After coming back from a 2-1 deficit to even the best-of-five series, New England’s only WNBA team was looking to nail down their first-ever championship title. Instead, this year provided the first WNBA title for the Mystics, led by former Sun Head Coach Mike Thibault, who coached the Connecticut team for 10 seasons and brought them to the Finals in 2004 and 2005. This was the seventh series in league history that had gone to a deciding Game 5.
The Sun led the game until midway through the third quarter, and the teams traded the lead in the final period until the Mystics edged ahead. Jonquel Jones had 25 points for the Sun and Alyssa Thomas added 21 points and 12 rebounds.
“They were just better down the stretch,” Sun head coach Curt Miller told the Associated Press. “Defensively, it wasn’t anything more than they were really physical. They were the physical team down the stretch when they needed it.”
Connecticut Sun games are a mix of fans of all ages, backgrounds and places. But during this Finals run, which culminates with Game 5 on Thursday, they've all been here for one reason: to support the Sun as the team fights to secure the first title in club history.
"Instead of taking a vacation to the Bahamas, so to speak, we spend the money coming here," said Jim Leonaitis, who started following the Sun with his wife, Beth, 14 years ago — the last time the team made it to the finals. Now, they own season tickets.
"We're both court-side, so it's like we got to know some of the players. And it's fun. It's just a fun event," he said. "One of my bucket list items is for us to win the championship sitting right where I sit."
The Leonaitis live in North Stonington, Conn., which isn't far from the arena in Uncasville, Conn., but Beth said she meets fans from all over.
"We have fans that drive from Vermont for every game," she said. "We have local — we live within 20 minutes of here — to people who travel up to two hours to get to a game."
Although the Sun are located in Connecticut, the franchise markets itself as "New England's WNBA team." And if you talk to fans, you realize they really do come from every corner of the region.
Jeanne Currier spends her winters in Los Angeles, but her summers in Maine, where she grew up. She's been following the WNBA since 1997, when the league started.
Although she's really a Los Angeles Sparks fan, she says, she's gotten accustomed to making the five and a half hour drive down from Maine to come to Sun games. She's been to about 10 games this season.
"Actually, what we do is, we're UCLA women's basketball fans and we've got several girls that are in the League," she said. "And so when their teams come to play, those are the games that we come [to]. So, we're almost always rooting against the Sun."
Currier said she respects the Sun and the Washington Mystics, who are matched up against the Sun in the Finals, and tried to be neutral. But, she's found herself decked out in Sun gear.
The Sun are in a unique situation in that they're not in a major metropolitan area, but they still draw fans from across the region to support them.
They're also the only WNBA franchise that's owned by a Native American tribe, the Mohegan Tribe.
For tribe members, this year's run has been memorable. Beth Regan, who's on the Mohegan Tribal Council of Elders, said they've embraced the team and what has been its underdog role.
Regan said that there's a saying in the Mohegan language: "We are related, we are family. The Mohegan Tribe with the Connecticut Sun."
"And that's how it feels," she said. "But this group in particular, we are very happy for. That doesn't mean we haven't been fans all along, we have. But we embrace them."
Kathy Regan-Pyne, who is on the Mohegan Tribal Council, also said she was excited for this particular group of players.
"We're not in a big city, so we don't have that big-city feel, but we have that family feel," she said. "And I think our fans embrace that, too. And they feel a part of this group."
The team's trip to the finals gives the Sun the chance to showcase themselves to people who may not have watched the club before.
"It gives us the opportunity to expose a lot of new people to Connecticut Sun basketball and hopefully get them hooked," said Sun Vice President Amber Cox. "We always say, 'You come once and you're coming back again.'"
After the team lost Game 3 on Sunday to the Mystics, the chance for fans to see the Sun win a championship at home went out the window. But in a roller coaster Game 4 on Tuesday, the Sun won their final home game for the season in front of a raucous crowd.
Afterward, Sun Head Coach Curt Miller credited the fans and his team, who had big expectations thrust upon them this season after two straight years of losses in the second round of the playoffs.
"You saw a determined team that was not going to end their season in this building, regardless of what everybody was saying," Miller said.
The Connecticut Sun have been to the WNBA Finals twice before, but have never brought home a title. For the team's fans, Thursday's game brings the chance to see one final piece of history made in an already historic season.
For the players, the opportunity is simple.
"We're not shocked to be here. We're excited to be here," said Sun forward Jonquel Jones after Game 4. "We understand that we're one game away from accomplishing our dreams and accomplishing the things that we know that we can do."
Correction: This article has been updated to correct that the series was best-of-five.
