Sandrine Gruda News

There is only one measuring stick Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault uses and that's the WNBA standings.

Carolina Hurricanes center Tuomo Ruutu is among the 20 players who will enter salary arbitration, the NHL Players' Association said Sunday night.

The Connecticut Sun were willing to let Sandrine Gruda join them a month into the WNBA season while she finished her overseas commitment.

Auburn Hills -- Mike Thibault never doubted his decision to leave a roster spot open for Sandrine Gruda.

FEVER 78, DREAM 74 : Just when it looked like Indiana's winning streak was in jeopardy, Tammy Sutton-Brown took over.

Erin Phillips scored six of her 19 points in overtime, leading the Connecticut Sun to a 95-92 victory over the Detroit Shock on Sunday.

Yale defeated Thames Rowing Club by five lengths Saturday to reach the final of the Remenham Cup for international women's eights at the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-on-Thames, England.

The Connecticut Sun patiently waited through June for their absent players to join them.

New London - Anete Jekabsone-Zogota was looking forward to getting some sleep Sunday night.

"They were long. They were short. They were all over the place," Jones said. "It was like, 'Just calm down a little bit.'" Once calmed, Jones was fine.

A Connecticut Sun spokesman just informed me that the club will have no announcement regarding the condition of rookie center Chante Black until Tuesday - at the earliest.

Rookie center Chante Black, who injured her left elbow Sunday against San Antonio, has only a moderate sprain - not a tear, a fracture or any of that really bad stuff.

Center Sandrine Gruda and guard Anete Jekabsone-Zogota who will join the Sun next week, were both named to the all-tournament team at the European Women's World Championships.

Connecticut Sun fans take heart. Center Sandrine Gruda, who will be joining the Sun at the end of next week, scored 12 points and had seven rebounds Saturday to lead France to a 57-53 victory over Russia in the championship game of the European World Championships in Riga, Latvia.

Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault talks with assistant Scott Hawk and Bernadette Maddox during a game last season at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

The thing about statistics is they can convince you things may not be as bad as they look.

They were bigger, sleeker, tougher, faster and more resilient. That pretty much describes the advantages the Washington Mystics enjoyed Saturday in the WNBA opener against the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The knock prior to last season was that Connecticut lost too many key players and brought in too many young faces to compete for a playoff spot.

The Connecticut Sun reached the WNBA roster limit of 11 late Thursday night by releasing veteran forward Danielle Page and 2009 second-round pick Lyndra Littles.

Now in her seventh season in the WNBA, Asjha Jones has learned enough about the preseason to know what's worth paying attention to.