Jamie Carey, who played in 105 games over the last season for the Connecticut Sun, announced her retirement on Monday.

"It's a hard decision any time you come to that crossroad, but it's a
decision that had to be made," Carey said in a statement. "I'm just very appreciative of the opportunity I had in Connecticut, and at the same time, I'm thankful I was able to start and end my professional career in the same place. It
doesn't happen very often. I'm just very appreciative of the organization,
and everything everyone did for me the last four years."

Signed as a free agent in 2005, the 5-foot-6 Carey was a dependable backup
to point guard Lindsay Whalen. Carey shot a league-best .451 percent
from beyond the arc in 2007, and was sixth on the all-time franchise list
for made threes with 84.

"Jamie has been a huge contributor to our team the last several years,"
Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "I understand her decision, but we will miss
her leadership, her competitiveness and her three-point shooting. She's
been a great teammate and a great player to coach. She's been one of my
favorite players to coach here. As a point guard and a coach, she
understood what I was looking for as much as anybody."

Carey works for Triple Crown Sports, a sports event marketing firm which helps coordinate college tournaments like the one the UConn women's basketball team played in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2007, and she recently completed her first season as the head coach of the Legacy High School girls' basketball team in Broomfield, Colo.

The Sun are awaiting word from former UConn star Tamika Raymond, who is also contemplating retirement. With the regular season extending into mid-September and the playoffs running into October, the task of juggling a WNBA playing career and a coaching gig (Raymond just finished her frist season as an assistant coach at Kansas, helping the Jayhawks reach the WNIT championship game) is all the more challenging.

With Whalen, Erin Phillips and Ketia Swanier, the Sun still have plenty of depth at point guard.

Training camp opens on May 17 with the Sun opening the preseason with a May 22 game against New York at Mohegan Sun Arena.