UNCASVILLE — Bria Hartley had only been in Connecticut for about 12 hours before she checked into the Connecticut Sun’s game against New York in the final minutes of the first quarter at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Hartley, playing point guard for the Sun, was quick to adjust to her new team and dished out an assist to Alyssa Thomas just 20 seconds later to give the Sun a three-point lead.
The former UConn women’s basketball guard arrived in Uncasville around midnight Monday after the Sun signed her to a rest-of-season contract earlier in the day. On Tuesday, Hartley made her debut with the Sun in its 82-63 win over New York as she returned to the state where she once led the Huskies to two straight national championships and was named an All-American.
“It’s exciting,” Hartley told Hearst Connecticut Media before Tuesday’s game. “Obviously there’s a lot of basketball culture here in Connecticut and being also from UConn, you get a lot of support. It was posted on Instagram and Twitter and it was just like an outpouring of support and that’s really nice to have.”
During the offseason, Hartley, in her ninth season in the WNBA, was traded to Indiana from Phoenix as part of a three-team trade involving the Fever, the Mercury and Chicago. The Sky traded Diamond DeShields to Phoenix along with its 2022 and 2023 first-round picks to Indiana. In return, Phoenix traded Hartley and its 2022 second-round pick to Indiana and its 2023 first-round pick to Chicago. The Fever completed the trade by sending Julie Allemand to Chicago.
Indiana placed Hartley on a partial suspension to start the season since she was…