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Two SEC players will compete in the 2019 WNBA Finals

By Bria Felicien

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: The Connecticut Sun huddles up against the Los Angeles Sparks during Game Three of the 2019 WNBA Semifinals on September 22, 2019 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: The Connecticut Sun huddles up against the Los Angeles Sparks during Game Three of the 2019 WNBA Semifinals on September 22, 2019 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Sun have some SEC connections

When the 2019 WNBA Finals tip off this Sunday on ESPN, the Southeastern Conference will be represented by two players with the Connecticut Sun.

Both Shekinna Stricklen, a 6’2 guard/forward from the University of Tennessee, and Theresa Plaisance, a 6’5 forward/center from LSU, will play in their first finals series.

Stricklen was drafted by Seattle in 2012 and has been with the Sun since 2015. She’s been a regular starter for Connecticut since 2017, and earlier this season, she won the 2019 WNBA All-Star 3-point contest. Stricklen has averaged 9 points per game in the regular season (her highest since joining the Sun) and 4 points and 4.3 rebounds during Connecticut’s sweep of Los Angeles in the semifinals.

Plaisance, who will come off the bench for the Sun, was drafted by the Tulsa Shock in 2014 and was traded to the Sun earlier this season by the Dallas Wings for rookie Kristine Anigwe.

The SEC has had frequent representation in the WNBA finals over the last decade, most notably with Tennessee (Mercedes Russell won a championship with Seattle in 2018, Candace Parker was named WNBA Finals MVP in 2016 and Tamika Catchings won that award in 2012) and LSU (Sylvia Fowles was the 2017 WNBA Finals MVP, Seimone Augustus has won four titles with the Minnesota Lynx and has also been named finals MVP). DeWanna Bonner, who starred at Auburn, was a crucial part of the 2014 Phoenix Mercury championship team.

Since 2011, the WNBA Finals MVP has come from an SEC school (Augustus, Catchings, Fowles x2, Parker) or was a former player from the University of Connecticut (Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart).

In the 2019 WNBA Finals, only one player (Morgan Tuck) is a Husky and the ACC is the most represented conference, with six players on the Mystics and three on the Sun. Maryland has 5 players playing the Finals.

See the Mystics roster here. And the Sun roster here.

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