Before the start of the 2013 season, Charles lost her aunt, Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, to multiple organ failure. Shortly after, she started her nonprofit Hopey’s Heart Foundation and made heart health her mission with the goal of increasing accessibility to automated external defibrillators.

Within a year, her foundation raised enough money to put more than 100 AEDs in schools across the country. Her commitment never wavered. Her career took her from Connecticut to New York, Washington, Phoenix, Seattle, and Atlanta and at every stop she committed to donating at least half her salary to Hopey’s Heart. By 2022, the number of AEDs provided by the foundation grew to 400.

She returned to the Sun this season, and it felt fitting that in a year full of milestones — including climbing to No. 1 all time in made field goals — the biggest came Saturday in the form of a $20,000 donation from Yale New Haven Health that will raise the total number of Hopeys Heart’s AEDs to more than 500.

Charles accepted the pledge on the court at Mohegan Sun Arena before the Sun’s 87-84 win over the Phoenix Mercury with family on hand.

“The first AED placed was in a Connecticut Sun uniform,” Charles said. “Getting to 500 is in a Connecticut Sun uniform. So it’s just really good in a sense of how it all unfolded full-circle. A lot of amazing things have happened for me, for my nonprofit and other endeavors in a Connecticut Sun uniform.”

Yale New Haven Health’s pledge represents 15 to 20 AEDs. The hospital also plans to work with the American Heart Association to offer heart health education where the AEDs are placed.

“If you’re an AAU basketball team, you might be playing in a game that does not actually have the capabilities of that AED, so we understand that even though it’s not mandatory, it still needs to be available and there,” said Paul Mounds Jr., vice president of community, corporate and government relations for Yale New Haven Health. “And that’s one of the things that Tina Charles’s foundation has been focusing on and that’s the reason why we felt it was important to partner with her — to raise the awareness of the importance of AEDS, the importance of heart health and the importance of what you can do and should do when these types of heart conditions occur, which can be sudden and quick.“

Part of the reason Charles and the Sun reunited in the offseason was because of the example Charles could set for a young team. Averaging a team high 16.6 points while also being a veteran presence at 36 years old, Charles has lived up to expectations on and off the floor.

“She’s just a great example of what professionalism means,” said Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti. “She shows up every day, does her job, practices, works hard. She shows up for games, she’s our leading scorer at her age. She just gets it done. I think she’s also learned through the year what her leadership can mean for our young team. It took her a little while to adjust to so many young players, but once she did, you see the impact it’s had on the rest of our group.

“Then you add her off-the-court endeavors and the fact that she’s showing the young players in this league what it really means to use your platform for good, to find something you care about that impacts you deeply and pour yourself into it.”

Sun attendance still strong

The Sun’s future might be uncertain, but its fanbase is unwavering. In the offseason, the Sun dismantled a team that was one win away from reaching the WNBA Finals a year ago. Then in the middle of the season, the Mohegan Tribe began exploring a sale — a complicated process that saw former Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca and former Bucks owner Marc Lasry emerge as potential buyers before the league stepped in.

But the Sun still drew average crowds of 8,707 to its 17 home games, the best attendance figures in franchise history in a year when league-wide attendance was also at an all-time high. Looking Saturday at a soldout crowd of 8,910, Rizzotti called the fanbase’s loyalty “remarkable.”

“I think we’ve been very intentional about making sure people understood our vision and tried to get them excited about this new, young rookie group that we have,” Rizzotti said. “But I also think, in some ways, the uncertainty around the team’s future galvanized the state a little bit to come out and show support for the team. Couple that with the overall excitement about the WNBA right now, and I think there’s so many factors that go into that.’

The Sun announced earlier this year to season-ticket holders that they would return to Mohegan for the 2026 season. But that’s as far as the organization would go while it weighed a sale and possible relocation, depending on the buyer.

“I would tell them to show up and enjoy the opportunity they have to be a part of a WNBA franchise in their state,” Rizzotti said. “Regardless of what happens, we’re here right now. So there’s no excuse to not come out this year, no excuse to come out next year. Because if it moves, you’re going to miss out on such a great experience. So I think it’s just asking them to be present and asking them to be invested now and not worry so much about what’s to come.“

Alyssa Thomas is one of the most unique forces in the WNBA. Her elite passing and vision paired with unmatched strength and relentlessness getting to the basket pose a problem for any defender. Get out of the way, give up a layup, and live to guard another day or guard the basket, brace for contact, take a punishing hit and watch her go to the free-throw line. And guarding the basket at all means she has the option to spray a pass to the 3-point line.

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas has a WNBA record eight triple-doubles this seasonRoss D. Franklin/Associated Press

Charles has had plenty of battles with Thomas over their careers. When she saw Thomas coming down in transition in the second quarter Saturday, she didn’t flinch. She waited for Thomas to go to her Eurostep, tracked the basketball as Thomas swung it across her body, then swiped it from her.

“I was just making a read on that play,” Charles said. “She brought the ball down and I just tried to strip it because knowing her, just her aggression, she’s probably going to get fouled or use that as momentum.”

The Sun stunned the fourth-place Mercury Saturday but slowing down Thomas was almost impossible. She left Mohegan Sun Arena with 14 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds, nearly adding another triple-double to the record seven she’s already posted this season.

For the third straight season, Thomas has flirted with averaging a triple-double, posting 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 9.2 assists per game. The pressure she puts on the rim gives a team full of shooters freedom to fire. The Mercury have made 392 3-pointers and Thomas has assisted on 170 of them.

With the MVP race more wide open than it’s been in recent years, Thomas has as much of a case as anyone.

“Make no mistake about it, AT and I, we’re very competitive,” Charles said. “She’s a hell of a player. What she’s been able to do for organizations she’s been on, making others better, being very selfless, very unselfish player, and averaging a triple-double, which we’ve just never seen in our league. So I think sometimes we take for granted just how good she is night in and night out.”

Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.