Uncasville, CT (August 16, 2022) – Today, Alyssa Thomas was named the Comeback Player of the Year and Brionna Jones was named the Sixth Woman of the Year by the Associated Press (AP). The honor is the first individual AP accolade for Thomas, who was named to the AP Second Team in 2020. Jones, who picked up the AP’s Most Improved Player award last season, was the unanimous pick for the 2022 Sixth Woman of the Year by AP voters.
Thomas returned to the Connecticut Sun this season after missing all but six games of the 2021 campaign recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. The eight-year veteran started in all 36 of the Sun’s games this regular season, leading her team in assists (6.1), steals (1.7) and minutes played (32.1). She also finished the regular season second in the league in steals (1.7), fifth in rebounding (8.2) and fourth in points in the paint (9.6) per game. Thomas was named the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice (5/23, 7/25) and the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice (May, July) this season.
In her first full season back, the 6-2 forward moved into fifth all-time in scoring, third all-time in assists, second all-time in rebounding and third all-time in steals in Connecticut Sun franchise history. Most notably, Thomas notched her first career triple-double and the first triple-double in Sun history in the team’s July 22 win over Minnesota, tallying 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Just 11 days later, she had another triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Connecticut’s August 2 win over Phoenix, making her one of three players (Candace Parker, Sabrina Ionescu) in the league’s history to record multiple triple-doubles in their career and in the same season.
Jones entered the 2022 season off with the best campaign of her WNBA career, where she was named the 2021 AP and WNBA Most Improved Player. This year, Jones found her role as the most dominant presence coming off the bench throughout the entire league. During the 2022 regular season, she averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 25.1 minutes per game.
Jones was named a WNBA All-Star for the second time in her five-year career and was the only All-Star this season who consistently came off the bench for their team in league play. The 6-3 Maryland native passed the 1,000 point career mark in the Sun’s May 22 win over Indiana and grabbed her 600th career-rebound in the Sun’s June 29 contest against Chicago. Jones finished the regular season in fourth in field-goal percentage (56.9%), fourth in second-chance points per game (2.8) and fifth in points in the paint per game (9.3) in the WNBA.
Thomas, Jones and the Connecticut Sun are back in action on Thursday, August 18 at 8:00 P.M. EST to take on the Dallas Wings in the first game of Round 1 of the WNBA Playoffs.
The Connecticut Sun is celebrating its 20th Anniversary as a franchise this year. For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit www.connecticutsun.com.
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