By Dominic Scianna

Aneesah Morrow, a professional women’s basketball player for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, is no stranger to winning basketball games.

Her high school career at Simeon High School in Chicago was the start of her winning pedigree. 

That confidence carried over to her collegiate career beginning at DePaul University for coach Doug Bruno where she starred and became an All-American and Freshman of the Year in the Big East Conference. After two seasons as a Blue Demon, Morrow transferred to Louisiana State University (LSU), where she continued her All-American status (all four years in college), rising to new heights of fame for four-time national champion coach Kim Mulkey in her final two years of eligibility as a collegian.

Morrow’s more than 2,500 points and 1,714 rebounds at the NCAA Division I level catapulted her to the top of the first round of the WNBA Draft, where she was selected seventh overall by the Sun this past April. Morrow wasted no time in seizing her opportunities by working her way through training camp and the beginning of the regular season to impress new first-year head coach Rachid Meziane to become a starter for Connecticut on June 22.

“When you work for something your whole life and have the aspirations to go after a dream, it doesn’t feel unreal to me. It’s about meeting challenges and having the confidence in myself and my game,” said Morrow after a morning shootaround for the Sun’s game versus the Washington Mystics on August 21. 

And what about the role she’s playing now, averaging close to 20 minutes a game as a starter and key contributor for Connecticut?

“Now working my way into the starting lineup and also being able to come in and be dominant and let my game translate from college to the pros is what I’m concentrating on as a rookie this season,” admitted Morrow.

Her numbers (7.3 points, and 6.0 rebounds to lead the team) have been impressive in the first 30 games of her pro career, but the Sun have struggled to find a consistent winning formula as they find themselves in the lower third of the WNBA standings with the Dallas Wings and Chicago Sky. Plus, losing is not something Morrow is used to, having won at all levels of high school and college play, but it all comes with the territory in the professional ranks.

More importantly at this time of the season, more than three-quarters of the way home, Morrow looked forward to the Sun traveling to Chicago on August 23, lamenting about her early college days at DePaul and the excitement she expected in her homecoming against the Sky.

“It’s going to mean a lot to go back to see my family and Wintrust Arena, where my career first began in college (with DePaul),” noted Morrow. “I feel like it’s a whole full circle moment for me.”

In addition, Morrow would reunite with her former teammate in college at LSU, Angel Reese, who is back in Chicago’s lineup after a setback due to injury. Morrow looked fondly ahead to the matchup against her friend in her pregame comments.

“Angel’s a great teammate, is very nurturing and an amazing person to be around. Of course, it was always easy being on her team because she would do anything to win doing the extra things. That was always her goal,” marveled Morrow. “I know how aggressively she plays and it’s going to be a battle on the boards (in Chicago on Saturday). She’s so determined to win and it’s the same way with me. I’ll talk to her after the game, but it’s going to be a dog fight that’s for sure.”

During the Aug. 23rd broadcast of the Sky-Sun contest on WCIU-TV in Chicago, sideline reporter Kalia Butler commented that Reese, in a pregame interview, said of Morrow, “I know what she’s capable of. That girl can play. We’ll always be close (no matter where our careers take us).”

The Sun would prevail in that entertaining Saturday matinee contest with a big road win, besting the Sky 94-84, and even though Morrow’s stat line was thin (7 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes), her three-point field goal with 4:34 left in the fourth quarter gave her team a seven-point advantage at 84-77. That huge three-point basket helped thwart a late Sky comeback to help Connecticut secure its third straight win.

Playing alongside veterans like Tina Charles (15 years in the WNBA, MVP in 2012, and UConn college national champion) and sharpshooter Marina Mabrey (7 years in the WNBA, and a former Notre Dame University star) has been a major benefit too in navigating through the ups and downs of her inaugural professional campaign.

“Tina has been in the league a long time and has seen it grow, and Marina knows a lot about the game and is playing multiple positions, and that’s the same thing I want to do to be able to come in and do, especially at the three and four positions,” said Morrow. “They’ve both competed against some of the best players all around the world (in the U.S. and abroad) and it’s always good to get that knowledge from them.”

And Charles sees in Morrow a player that is hungry to learn and be a team player doing the dirty work that is needed as a rookie contributor.

“Just to see Aneesah’s growth along with the other rookies has been very satisfying. We’re a very young team and we have to develop their skills along with some of our veterans to come together as a unit,” admitted Charles in a midseason assessment of the rookies and their play.

The road to glory for Morrow is ahead of her, and the experience in the WNBA as a first-year professional can be the perfect primer for building blocks that she will need to be a consistent star.

“I hold myself to a really high standard when it comes to performing on the basketball court and with life itself,” mused Morrow. “They (the coaches and my teammates) always tell me  pro is slow, and to take my time and finish around the basket, while being able to read my defenders and have the same IQ that I came into the league with.”

Morrow wears her pride on her sleeve as a Chicagoan and was thrilled to showcase her talents with her hometown as the backdrop. And she delivered as she always does with a WIN in Chicago to the delight of her family, friends, and Connecticut Sun fans that have adopted her as their own because of her hard-nosed play, work ethic and passion for the game.