Home|Sports|Jones, Liberty get the best of AcesSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailAugust 30, 2023 10 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The WNBA season is winding down and Bahamian Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the New York Liberty looks to be tuning up as they picked up their fourth straight victory with a 94-85 victory against rival Las Vegas Aces on Monday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Jones had a quiet night on the offensive side of the ball coming away with just four points, but she made up for it by adding 10 rebounds, one steal and a block.
It was the fifth time the top two teams in the league faced each other this season with four being played in August. The win for Liberty meant that the two potential WNBA Finals team are tied at 2-2 in their regular season matchup. However, Liberty has won three of their five total meetings by coming away with a dominant 82-62 performance in the Commissioner’s Cup final earlier this month.
The win on Monday night also closes the gap that the league leading Aces (30-6) had over Liberty (28-7) to just 1.5 games. Liberty has been hot in their last 10 games having only lost just one game which was against the Aces. For the Aces, they are sputtering to the end of the season as they are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Liberty has four more games left on the season.
Jones had a tough night from the field going 1-for-8 in 18 minutes on the floor. She got into foul trouble early in the game coming away with two fouls in the first quarter. She was forced to only play six minutes in that opening period but was able to score Liberty’s first two points of the game. She ended the game with five fouls. As mentioned earlier she was able to pull in 10 rebounds – six on the offensive glass and four on the defensive glass.
Sabrina Ionescu led the way for Liberty with 25 points. Jackie Young came away with 24 points in the loss.
The game was a competitive one early after Liberty picked it up after the Aces went up 4-0 to start the game. At the end of the first quarter, Liberty was up 22-19 as the Aces stayed close.
That gap widened as Liberty got into a groove and tuned up their defense another notch as the Aces went cold in that quarter making 33.3 percent of their shots from the field. Liberty on the other hand made 58.8 percent of their shots as they found their sweet spot on the court. At the end of the second period, Liberty was up 47-35 as they outscored the Aces 25-16. That quarter was the game changer as they never trailed the Aces since the ending of the first quarter.
The third quarter was even as both teams scored 23 points. Liberty stopped any run that the Aces attempted. After going up 70-58 at the end of the third quarter, Liberty coasted to victory as they kept the lead and got the key victory over the Aces.
The Bahamian is averaging 11.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in her first season with Liberty. She is shooting 52.9 percent from the field while averaging 1.2 blocks per game in an average of 24.8 minutes on the floor.
Jones and Liberty will get back on the court on Friday, September 1 against Jones’ former club, Connecticut Sun (24-11) who sits in third place in the league. That game gets underway at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Liberty dubbed that night West Indian Night. It is the first ever one as they will celebrate the West Indian culture and community which is an integral part of Brooklyn, as Jones’ welcome the Sun to Brooklyn.