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What drives the Connecticut Sun’s DeWanna Bonner?

DeWanna Bonner is a big reason the Connecticut Sun are in the 2022 WNBA Finals. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — When DeWanna Bonner got to Auburn in 2005, coach Nell Fortner knew exactly what she was getting.

Bonner was an exceptional talent with a tall, lanky frame, meaning she could play any position on offense and guard anyone on defense.

Bonner averaged 21 points and nine rebounds as a high school senior and was named a McDonald’s All-American. Her skills were already polished when she arrived at Auburn as an 18-year-old freshman, and she was bursting with potential. Not just as a college player, but as a WNBA prospect as well.

Everyone knew it.

Almost everyone.

That was the one thing that surprised Fortner about Bonner.

“I don’t think she had a clue as to how good she was, or how good she was going to be,” Fortner says.

One day at practice, the coaching staff pulled Bonner aside to have a conversation about her future.

“They told me I could be in the WNBA,” she recalls, “and I was like, ‘Me? What do you mean?’”

That was 17 years ago. Since then, Bonner has carved out a dream career for herself. At 35, she’s worked her way up from winning three Sixth Player of the Year awards to being a four-time All-Star. Now, she plays a key role for a Connecticut Sun team that’s fighting for its first WNBA championship.

Her talent is undeniable.

To everyone except Bonner.

“I still don’t think I’ve made it to that point,” she says. “Like to this day I’m like, ‘I should be better.’”

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(Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images)

LaShelle Bonner has one of those laughs you can get lost in. She’s 52, but has a soft and sweet giggle like a cartoon princess.

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala., and LaShelle is between patients. She’s an in-home care nurse, a profession she’s held for 30 years. When she’s done with her workday, LaShelle will go home and turn on the TV to watch her daughter, DeWanna, and the Sun take on the Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.

She and her husband will watch the game together, but separately.

She watches upstairs and he watches downstairs.

“He says I don’t know how to act,” LaShelle says with that sweet laugh. “I get too intense. I can’t help it.”

LaShelle has always had that intensity when it comes to cheering on her daughter, on the basketball court and in life.

DeWanna’s father, Greg McCall, has been in California since she was young, so for a lot of her childhood in Birmingham, it was just DeWanna and her mom.

Eventually, she’d spend summers with her dad in California, learning about basketball and training with McCall, who currently coaches at California State, Bakersfield.

But as a kid, DeWanna didn’t gravitate to the sport her dad played. She wanted to participate in every athletic activity possible.

“Every time I turned around she wanted to play something else,” LaShelle says. “Baseball, basketball, volleyball.”

LaShelle worked two jobs, and her mom, Shirley Sanders, helped out so that DeWanna could do everything she wanted.

But LaShelle didn’t mind the extra work it took because DeWanna made being a mom easy.

“She was always an active girl, but she was never any trouble,” LaShelle says. “She’s always been humble and sweet.”

DeWanna was a breeze to raise, but life wasn’t always easy for the two of them. The Bonners lived in the projects of Birmingham where DeWanna and her mom shared one bedroom.There wasn’t money for anything extra, and sometimes there wasn’t enough for the necessities, either.

“I remember one time asking to go to the movies, but we couldn‘t afford it,” DeWanna says. “And the next day we were trying to figure out how we were going to eat.”

DeWanna doesn’t talk much about her upbringing. Not because she’s embarrassed, but because she’s done so well for herself that people don’t realize what life was like for her as a kid. She went to college at Auburn and studied psychology. Now, she splits her time between the WNBA and various overseas teams. There’s enough glamor in DeWanna’s life now that people rarely ask about her childhood.

“It’s the same cliché story a lot of people probably have but don’t speak on,” DeWanna says. “I embrace it, but I don’t speak about it much, because once I got to Auburn, people kind of forgot about where I started because I went to this amazing university.”

But DeWanna doesn’t forget.

Birmingham, the projects, her mother, her grandmother, all those things made her who she is today.

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Bonner won championships with the Phoenix Mercury in 2009 and 2014. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

DeWanna has traveled the world. She went from Auburn to Phoenix when she was drafted No. 5 by the Mercury in 2009. She’s also played in the Czech Republic, Spain, Russia and, of course, Connecticut.

LaShelle, meanwhile, has lived her whole life in Birmingham and isn’t planning to leave.

“Unless my child can convince me otherwise,” she says.

But the two share a multitude of similarities, starting — but not ending — with their laughs. When DeWanna laughs, you can hear LaShelle’s sing-songy giggle.

“DeWanna is just an old maid like me,” LaShelle says. “We like the same type of old music, we like to sit out and just be to ourselves. We’re not too big on a crowd.”

When they’re together, DeWanna and LaShelle listen to Blues and talk about life. Sometimes, they like to go bowling, even though DeWanna always wins.

LaShelle cherishes those moments the two spend together back in Birmingham. She also tries to go to games whenever she can, and even if she’s watching on TV, LaShelle is radiating pride for her daughter.

“I’m a very proud mom,” she says. “From our background and where we come from, to now, very, very proud.”

DeWanna talks about her story being cliché, the tale of someone coming from nothing, but that’s not all it is.

Rather, for the longtime WNBA vet, it’s a story about never letting good be good enough.

LaShelle could have been content with DeWanna simply getting by, but instead she worked two CNA jobs so her daughter could play every sport in the book. And she always showed up for her, whether it was watching DeWanna as a cheerleader, waving her pom poms at the boys’ basketball games, or when she was older, driving two hours to Auburn for her college games.

Once, LaShelle was in the hospital with a blood clot and couldn’t make the trip to Auburn. Her doctor was going to discharge his patient, but then thought better of it.

“He didn’t trust me,” she says with a laugh. “He said, ‘I know you’re going to travel down there to that game, so I’m going to keep you one more day.’”

That’s where DeWanna got her tenacity and her intense work ethic.

It’s how she was able to work her way from a talented sixth player with the Mercury in her early WNBA years to playing the second-most minutes on the Sun roster and averaging 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 2022.

In the semifinals, Bonner helped the Sun get past a Chicago Sky squad that upset them in last year’s playoffs, with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists in Game 5.

She’s also not afraid to go after loose balls or get into the occasional tussle with an opposing player. And after 13 years as a professional basketball player, DeWanna still looks for growth in every opportunity.

“I want to win, I want to do whatever it takes,” she says. “Losing sucks. Well, no, let me not say losing sucks, because you learn so much from losing, but I’m the ultimate competitor. I want my teammates to know I’m there, and I want to win the game.”

Her toughness, she says, comes from LaShelle. Though LaShelle prefers the word “strong.”

“I don’t know why she thinks she’s tough,” LaShelle says with a laugh. “You ask her for the shirt off her back and she gone give it to you.

“But she has the patience. She can manage anything. She can play ball and still tend to her kids. She’s a strong woman.”

Bonner has twin daughters, born in 2017, and though they are kindergarteners now, she still refers to them as “my babies.”

They take up most of her free time, which is fine with DeWanna since she prefers to stay in anyway.

“I love just being in my house,” she says. “We are on the road so much, airplanes, traveling, that when I get home I just want to enjoy my house.”

DeWanna loves grilling in the backyard, and watching movies during her down time. Her favorite is “The Holiday” — year-round, even though it’s a Christmas movie. But usually, she watches whatever Disney film her girls pick. One graviates to princesses, and the other to things like the “Incredible Hulk,” but she finds a way to cater to both.

For DeWanna, there is nothing more important than family, and her teammates fall into that category.

When the Sun had their backs against the wall in two elimination games against the Sky, she took matters into her own hands, calling a “players only meeting.”

“DB is a champion,” teammate Natisha Hiedeman told reporters this week. “She’s been there. She knows what it takes. Her speeches have been on point lately, so we’ve been feeding off of that. She’s leading the way, and we’re following.”

It’s easy to follow DeWanna, Fortner says. The current Georgia Tech coach saw her develop into a leader during her days at Auburn.

“At her core, she’s just a good person,” Fortner says. “Her mother raised a fine, young woman. When you’re on a team, character matters, and to me, that is where it starts for DeWanna Bonner.

“It’s not about her, and that is easy to respect as a teammate.”

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(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

DeWanna wasn’t always the confident player she is today. At 35, she’s had years to grow into herself. But when she was a kid in Birmingham, her lanky frame wasn’t seen as a positive.

That’s another cliché part of her story, DeWanna says, being the girl who was bullied for looking different.

Kids in middle school didn’t see her wingspan as a strength for defending, or her length as an advantage for finishing around the rim. To them, she was just tall and skinny, and that made her a target.

LaShelle remembers one day when the bullying was particularly bad, she had a heart-to-heart with her daughter.

“I told her, “You are this size and this height for a reason,’” LaShelle says.

And as she worked her way from shooting on the hoops outside her home in Birmingham, to AAU to Auburn and the WNBA, to now, playing for her third WNBA championship (the first two came with Phoenix in 2009 and 2014), DeWanna realized her mom was right.

“I learned to embrace it,” she said. “This is me. Like, I’m awesome, I’m amazing. And that paid off because now, here I am.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Top Seeds Triumph at 2025 Indian Wells Tennis Tournament

US tennis star Coco Gauff eyes a volley from Japan's Moyuka Uchijima in their 2025 Indian Wells opening match.
Word No. 3 Coco Gauff will feature in the tournament’s Round of 32 on Monday afternoon. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Top-ranked players cruised through the competition at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells over the weekend, with few early-round upsets leaving the sport’s best firmly intact as the Round of 32 enters its second day.

Defending champion and world No. 2 Iga Świątek has put together the tournament's most dominant performance so far, with the Polish phenom dropping just four total games in her first two victories over France's Caroline Garcia and Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska.

On the other hand, several lower seeded players suffered early round losses.

Yastremska opened her Indian Wells account by ousting Tunisian star and world No. 32 Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1 in Friday's first round.

Meanwhile, Saturday saw Canada's No. 27 Leylah Annie Fernandez and the US's No. 18 Amanda Anisimova fall in three-set first-round battles with Romania's Jaqueline Cristian and Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, respectively.

Sunday's play went mostly according to seeding, with the lone second-round upset win going to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. The world No. 23 player sent the US's No. 14 Danielle Collins packing with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat.

US tennis star Madison Keys returns the ball during her opening match in the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Keys's path to the trophy could be a Top-5 gauntlet. (John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Top 5 players look to roll to the Round of 16

While Świątek and US standout No. 4 Jessica Pegula booked their Round of 16 spots on Sunday, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka as well as US stars No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 5 Madison Keys will take the court for their second-round matchups on Monday afternoon.

Keys faces perhaps the toughest path to the trophy.

If the 2025 Australian Open champion clears Belgium's No. 28 Elise Mertens on Monday, she could face Gauff in an all-US quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Then, a potential date with 2024 US Open winner Sabalenka — who Keys defeated to secure her first-ever Grand Slam win — awaits in the tournament's penultimate round.

How to watch the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells 

The conclusion of the tournament's second round is currently underway, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

Washington Spirit Kicks Off 2025 NWSL Season with Challenge Cup Win

The Washington Spirit holds their 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup trophy after defeating the Orlando Pride.
Washington won the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup after a penalty shootout against Orlando. (Rich Storry/NWSL via Getty Images)

The Washington Spirit booked themselves some sweet revenge on Friday, lifting the 2025 Challenge Cup after taking down 2024 NWSL Championship foes Orlando in a penalty shootout.

The Pride were hunting an exclusive claim to all NWSL hardware entering the match, hoping to kick off the 2025 season holding the league's Shield, Championship trophy, and Challenge Cup.

Instead, the Spirit snagged some early-season momentum, buoyed by yet another penalty save by Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.

"We’re looking to write a new story — we were upset about how last year ended, but this is about this team, this year, and this is a great first step," Kingsbury said after the game.

Penalty kicks fuel injury-hampered Spirit to Challenge Cup title

Washington's win came in the wake of mounting early-season injuries, though Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman did enter as a second-half sub — despite her lingering back issue.

Pride defender Rafaelle opened scoring late in the first half, slotting a second-chance ball into the side netting through a flood of Spirit defenders to put Orlando on the board.

Washington equalized in the 72nd minute, as Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos made NWSL history by launching the second-ever direct free kick goal in any final.

The match ended 1-1 in regulation. According to the contest's rules, there are no overtime periods in the Challenge Cup, forcing the Pride and Spirit to decide the result from the penalty spot.

The game-deciding shootout saw Washington outpace Orlando 4-2, allowing the Spirit to avenge their 2024 championship loss by immediately earning a 2025 trophy.

Notably, the Spirit are enjoying a unique penalty kick run, tallying their third shootout win in a knockout game — more than any other club in NWSL history.

While the regular season doesn’t officially start until Friday, the NWSL’s top two clubs hit the ground running — with Washington already proving just how quickly the tide can turn in the world’s most competitive league.

Uncertainty Hits Top NCAA Basketball Teams as Selection Sunday Nears

Duke's Reigan Richardson steals the ball from Notre Dame's Olivia Miles during their 2025 ACC tournament semifinal game.
ACC tournament No. 2-seed Notre Dame lost to No. 3-seed Duke in the conference semifinals. (Lance King/Getty Images)

While NCAA basketball conference champions celebrate their trophies and automatic entries into March Madness, top contenders on the losing side are facing more questions than answers — with limited time to regroup before Selection Sunday.

After No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 7 NC State both fell to tournament champion — and emerging dark horse — No. 11 Duke this weekend, projections shifted such that the ACC is not likely to field a No. 1 seed in the national bracket.

No. 9 LSU similarly struggled, losing 56-49 in the tournament semifinal to eventual SEC runner-up No. 1 Texas.

That said, the Tigers' woes, however, could be short-lived. LSU endured the entire conference tournament without leading scorer Flau'jae Johnson due to a shin injury, and then saw standout senior Aneesah Morrow — the team's second most prolific scorer — exit their SEC semifinal loss with a re-aggravated foot sprain.

Both are expected to be back in action when the NCAA tournament tips off.

Texas guard Rori Harmon defends against South Carolina's Tessa Johnson during the 2025 SEC tournament final.
No. 1 Texas fell to reigning NCAA champs No. 5 South Carolina in the SEC tournament final. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Win-or-go-home NCAA tournament looms large

Other teams are confronting harder-to-identify issues.

"I feel like we played below our standard. So that's frustrating. We’ve got to get better, and that’s on me," Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said after Saturday’s ACC semifinal defeat. "I need to make this team get better, and that’s something that, when we’re back on the court, we will be better for this loss."

Even squads that fell in conference tournament finals departed the arena knowing that next time, there will be no second chance.

"I certainly think we have established ourselves as one of the top two teams in the cup when it comes to seeding," said Texas head coach Vic Schaefer after Sunday’s championship loss to No. 5 South Carolina. "We’ll learn from that [loss].… We’ve earned our way, and we’ll trust the committee to make that [seeding] decision. Whatever they make, we’ll roll with it."

Not every talent-laden team will make it to April's Final Four, but with adjustments, a conference tournament stumble could become a mere footnote in a longer postseason journey.

How to watch the NCAA tournament Selection Sunday Show

The road to Tampa officially kicks off when the NCAA basketball committee reveals the 68-team Division I tournament bracket on Selection Sunday, March 16th.

The Selection Show will air live at 8 PM ET on ESPN.

NCAA Basketball Conference Tournament Champions Put March Madness on Notice

UCLA basketball celebrates and lifts their 2025 Big Ten tournament trophy as confetti falls.
UCLA earned their first conference tournament title since 2006 on Sunday. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

The Power Four wrapped up their 2024/25 NCAA basketball seasons on Sunday, with newly minted conference tournament champions punching their tickets to the March Madness tournament.

While the Big 12's weekend was all chalk as No. 8 TCU added their first tournament title since 2005 to their 2024/25 regular-season conference trophy on Sunday, the ACC capped their contest with chaos.

No. 11 Duke put the conference — and the NCAA selection committee — on notice, upsetting both No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 7 NC State en route to their first ACC tournament championship in 12 years.

In the SEC, No. 5 South Carolina had the last word against No. 1 Texas. After splitting their two 2024/25 meetings and sharing the regular-season title, the defending national champion Gamecocks turned the SEC tournament final into a defensive masterclass, defeating the Longhorns 64-45 to claim the conference trophy.

Meanwhile, Sunday's Big Ten finale saw No. 4 UCLA enact revenge on their crosstown rivals, No. 2 USC. After dropping both their matchups and ceding the conference's regular-season title to the Trojans, the Bruins held USC to just 34.3% from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc to snag the tournament crown with a 72-67 win.

South Carolina basketball head coach Dawn Staley and forward Sania Feagin lift the 2025 SEC tournament trophy as the team cheers.
South Carolina's resume makes them a possible overall No. 1 seed in March Madness. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Conference winners eye NCAA tournament seeding

With their Sunday wins and their automatic entries into the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament, conference champions are now eyeing their shots at top national seedings.

While TCU and Duke each made strong cases for increasing their seeds, UCLA and South Carolina fully cemented themselves as frontrunners to top the 2024/25 bracket.

"When you win this [SEC] tournament and play the schedule that we play, I do think we’re the No. 1 overall seed," remarked South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. "There isn’t anybody in the country that has played the schedule that we have played, that had share of the regular-season title, won this tournament and beat the No. 1 team in the country."

The stats back up Staley's claims. South Carolina played more Top 25 opponents this season than any other currently ranked squad, winning 12 of those games — seven against Top 10 teams. The only three losses they logged all season came against No. 1 Texas, No. 3 UConn, and No. 4 UCLA, with the Gamecocks handing the Longhorns two defeats in return.

UCLA head coach Cori Close took a more diplomatic approach when asked about top seeding after winning the Big Ten title.

"I think it would mean a lot for us [and USC] both to be No. 1 seeds," Close told ESPN. "And I hope we do get the chance to do it [in the Final Four] in Tampa a fourth time."

The final decisions rest with the selection committee, who will reveal their 2024/25 NCAA tournament bracket this Sunday.

Creighton's Molly Mogensen defends UConn's Azzi Fudd during a 2025 Big East basketball game.
UConn will face Creighton for the Big East tournament championship on Monday. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

How to watch Monday's Big East tournament final

Though the Power Four have handed out their hardware, other DI conference tournaments will be in action all week, with the Big East championship tipping off Monday night.

No. 3 UConn is hunting their fifth straight Big East tournament trophy, but they'll have to beat No. 23 Creighton to hoist it.

The No. 1-seed Huskies and No. 2-seed Bluejays will tip off at 7 PM ET, with live coverag on FS1.

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