Home|Sports|Jones, Liberty topple Sparks againSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailAugust 3, 2023 28 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian professional women’s basketball player Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones scored nine points for the New York Liberty on Tuesday night, helping them get their 20th win of the season, with a 76-69 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks. They defeated the Sparks for a second time in three days at the Cryptyo.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
The Grand Bahama native finished the game with nine points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes of play, and the Liberty now sport a 20-6 win/loss record on the season – second-best in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and first in the Eastern Conference of the WNBA. They are on a two-game winning streak and have won eight of their last 10 games.
On Sunday, the Liberty took care of the Sparks, 87-79, in a game in which Jones finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds in just over 29 minutes on the floor.
Leading the way for Liberty was Courtney Vandersloot who scored a season-high 23 points including 20 points in the second half. The Sparks were led by Nneka Ogwumike with 20 points.
Jones did most of her damage in the first half of the game in which she led the team with seven points that included five in the second quarter. She shot 2-for-3 from the field and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. She helped her team stay close to the Sparks at the half as they trailed 34-32 at the intermission.
The Liberty struggled to find a rhythm in the third quarter. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Sparks led 54-50. Jones along with Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Vandersloot played the entire quarter.
The Bahamian went to the free-throw line at the 5:22 mark of the fourth period and made both free shots to put Liberty up 61-58. After the Sparks went ahead, Vandersloot made a shot from deep to give Liberty a 66-65 lead. That lead grew to 71-65 with over a minute remaining. The Liberty never trailed the rest of the way.
Jones, a former WNBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), has improved her play since the all-star break. In the seven games she has played, she is averaging 15.7 points per game compared to 10.3 points per game before the all-star break. She has also seen her production nearly doubled in rebounds, up to 12.1 boards per game from 6.1.
In the 26 games she played in this season, Jones is averaging 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. She is shooting at a 55.5 percent clip from the field and 88.2 percent from the charity stripe.
The Liberty will stay on the road and play the Minnesota Lynx tomorrow at 8 o’clock at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Following that, they will return home to host a pivotal matchup against the league-leading Las Vegas Aces (24-2) on Sunday August 6 at 3 p.m.