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Natisha Hiedeman’s getting another shot in the WNBA.
On Wednesday, the Connecticut Sun claimed the former Marquette guard off of waivers, as she had been there after being released by Atlanta on July 1st. In order to make space for Hiedeman, the Sun released Bridget Carleton.
Carleton and Hiedeman were both 2019 WNBA draft picks, with Hiedeman getting selected three spots ahead of Carleton. However, the Sun released Hiedeman before the season started and kept Carleton. For whatever reason, they’ve elected to reverse that course at this point.
Carleton wasn’t playing much for the Sun, who have a record of 9-4 through 13 games. While I don’t know if Hiedeman brings much more to the table than Carleton, the 2019 Big 12 Player of the Year, it’s an indication from Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller that he wants Hiedeman on the roster. Atlanta signed Hiedeman to fill in while a player was representing her country in Eurobasket, so it was most likely going to be a short term contract. Here, Miller and the Sun have made space on their roster to acquire Hiedeman’s contract.
Hopefully this means that Hiedeman will get a chance to make her regular season WNBA debut. She was on the roster for three games with Atlanta, but did not appear in any of them. Hiedeman is the first Marquette player to ever have a WNBA regular season contract, so if she checks in with the Sun, she’ll be the first Golden Eagle to appear in a WNBA regular season game.
Hiedeman wrapped up her time at Marquette as the #3 all-time scorer with 1,913 points, falling just 27 points short of what used to be Krystal Ellis’ program record of 1,940. She also ended up #6 all-time in assists with 457 and became the first MU player to record 300 made three-pointers. Hiedeman’s 301 triples in her career surpassed Lori Goerlitz’s previous record of 223.
The Sun are currently off until Saturday, July 6th, when they’ll host Minnesota at Mohegan Sun Arena. That game will be televised on ESPN2, with tipoff set for 1pm Central time. In fact, Connecticut’s next three games are on national television, with July 10th against Atlanta turning up on NBA TV and July 12th against Phoenix airing on ESPN2.