June 8, 2009
Brown, Cirone make final cut (The Day)
Still young, but on the title hunt again (Norwich Bulletin)
WNBA 2009: Expect the Unexpected (Full Court Press)
UNCASVILLE, Conn. - After two weeks of training camp, former Illinois State guard Kristi Cirone beat the odds and made the Connecticut Sun's final roster as an undrafted free agent. As exciting as that news was, Cirone had little time to celebrate before the Sun opened the 2009 season with a pair of games last weekend and she became the first Illinois State player to play in the WNBA.
The Sun opened the season with an 82-70 loss to Washington at home Saturday, June 6. Cirone filled up the stat sheet with three points, three rebounds and two steals in 7:54.
She checked in for the first time at the 6:05 mark of the third quarter, replacing Lindsay Whalen. She played the remainder of the period, recording her three rebounds and two steals during that time. She played the first 1:28 of the fourth quarter before checking out until the final 21 seconds of the game. As the clock wound down with the game well in hand for the Mystics, Cirone attempted her first-career shot, a three-pointer, and nailed it.
Connecticut hit the road for a game against the New York Liberty the following day at the world famous Madison Square Garden and picked its first win, 66-57. Cirone had two assists and one rebound in 3:43. She entered the game in the final minute of the first quarter and recorded her first-career assist on a three-pointer by Keisha Brown at the end of the period.
In both games, Cirone had a plus-minus rating of plus-seven. The plus-minus statistic measures how well a team performs when a player is on the floor as opposed to when she is on the bench.
The Sun has a week off before hosting the Atlanta Dream Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.
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