The Connecticut Sun announced on Wednesday that Bria Hartley would miss the remainder of the WNBA season due to a torn ACL she suffered in her left knee.
Hartley’s injury occurred during the third quarter of Sunday’s win against the Minnesota Lynx. Hartley came down and twisted her left leg after trying to save a loose ball from going out of bounds.
Hartley signed a rest-of-season contract with the Sun on July 18 after she was cut from the Indiana Fever. She’s been averaging 4.6 points, 0.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game during the three games she’s played with the Sun.
“I think she fits well into our system, and just the way that she played, like when you saw her out there with us, it just looked like she had been with us before. So we appreciate that energy, and we were so excited about what the future for her and with our team. But ultimately, right now, it’s about her getting healthy and focusing on her body and us just giving her that love and support, which is all we can do right now. Definitely, our hearts go out to her,” reigning MVP and teammate Jonquel Jones said per CT Insider.
Hartley will be recovering from her second major injury in the last two years; she tore the ACL in her right leg playing with the Mercury during the WNBA bubble in 2020.
“It’s terrible,” teammate Courtney Williams said. “She worked so hard to get back, right. Just her story and her process, and to get here and she was gonna be such a big factor in what we were about to do and trying to accomplish.”
With Hartley out, the Sun signed Kiana Williams Wednesday to a seven-day contract. The Seattle Storm drafted Williams was drafted 18th overall out of Stanford during the 2021 WNBA Draft.
Williams is set to be available on Thursday when the Sun hosts the Storm.
Photos via Getty Images.
