Sun hope to celebrate a victory vs. Storm (Jun 28, 2017)

The Connecticut Sun will honor their past while also trying to do something about their present on Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

This is the 15th anniversary of the Sun joining the WNBA as the first non-NBA-affiliated franchise in the league, and Katie Douglas, Nykesha Sales and Rebecca Lobo will be on hand for the home game against the Seattle Storm.

Sun president and CEO Mitchell Etess purchased the team from the Orlando Magic, and the franchise overcame the obstacle of playing in a casino. The Sun were able to cash in on the popularity of UConn women's basketball, making it almost fitting that all-time UConn greats Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird will be there playing for there playing for the Storm on Thursday night.

Sales and Douglas will take part in an on-court interview at halftime of the game. Lobo will be there as an analyst for the first ESPN2 broadcast of a Sun game at Mohegan Sun Arena since July 2, 2013.

Turning back to the present, the Sun had a five-game winning streak snapped at Dallas on Sunday and then lost at home to the Los Angeles Sparks 87-79 Tuesday night.

"We did some good things throughout the game but just felt like we were always climbing uphill after that first quarter," Sun coach Curt Miller said after the loss to Los Angeles, which led by 10 points after one period. "They're really, really hard to guard in transition."

The Storm, who have also lost two in a row, were hammered at Washington 100-70 on Tuesday, and both teams come into this game with 6-7 records.

Seattle shot 4 of 21 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 23 times Tuesday.

"For the most part, I felt like we didn't get really good looks," Bird said. "I think about some of the threes that I got, some of the threes I remember some of my teammates getting, they were open. We just didn't knock them down."

Bird comes into this game needing seven assists to reach 2,500 for her WNBA career. She is second all-time in assists, trailing only Ticha Penicheiro, who had 2,599.

Bird and Stewart are always excited to come back to Connecticut.

"To have the support from the fans and the state means a lot," Stewart said via conference call Wednesday. "It's always exciting to come back here. Every time you do, you see former teammates, players that are still on UConn's roster that you played with, coaches or friends that you've met over the course of years. It's one of those trips that you look forward to on the calendar."

Jonquel Jones leads the Sun in scoring, at 15.3 points per game, and rebounding, at 12.1 per contest.

Jewell Loyd tops the Storm in scoring at 17.2 points per game, with Stewart right behind at 17.1.