news-engine

Grand Bahamian Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) center Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones returned from a left ankle injury in the New York Liberty’s 109-102 victory against the Indiana Fever at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday evening. Jones went down with an apparent left ankle injury in the first quarter of the Liberty’s previous game against the Chicago Sky last week and never returned to that game. However, she was back to her usual productivity against the Fever. The Grand Bahamian center contributed 19 points, 10 rebounds and one assist while shooting 5-for-10 on field goals and 1-for-4 from long range in 29 minutes of action. It was her fifth double-double stat line in the last seven games and her fourth double-double in the last five games for New York. The latter improved their record to 23-15 for third place in the Eastern Conference and sixth place overall in the league. The Indiana Fever remained in the second spot in the Eastern Conference with a 24-14 record headed into next month’s WNBA playoffs. While Jones said it was not a must win, she emphasized it was good to get the victory against a team like the Fever. “I wouldn’t say we needed it, but it definitely felt good to get a win like tonight,” she said. “I think we’ve had really tough matchups with them and they have been able to kind of like have our number in the previous matchups, so for us to be able to come in tonight and really kind of set the tone and I think really put a great 40 minutes together is something that we’ve also been discussing the entire season as well, so I think tonight is a really good night for us to be able to build upon and continue to grow and it felt good.” New York led 33-26 after one period of play before stretching the advantage to 65-49 early in the third. Indiana managed to put together a 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter, but New York weathered the storm to get the win against the Fever, who they lost their previous two meetings against. Kelsey Mitchell paced Indiana with a game-high 25 points and four assists in the loss. Jones and the Liberty are trying to make a push for the coveted WNBA crown with head coach Chris DeMarco at the helm. The Liberty have been trying to return to the big dance following their breakthrough during the 2024 WNBA season. Jones was pivotal during that run and helped the team to win their first franchise title with a 3-2 WNBA Finals victory over the Minnesota Lynx. She not only won her first championship, but also took home the 2024 WNBA Finals MVP award. Since then, the team has not quite been able to replicate the same success. Last season, under the leadership of championship coach Sandy Brondello, the team was hoping to repeat as titleholders, but their season ended in the first round of the WNBA playoffs against the Phoenix Mercury. After closing out last season with a 27-17 win/loss record for second in the East and fourth in the league, the Libs collapsed in the first round, 2-1, against the Mercury. With the team now gunning to be championship contenders, Jones will be a key piece on that journey. She is currently averaging 14.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 block per game while shooting 49.7 percent on field goals and 38.5 percent in 37 games this season. Next up on the team’s schedule will be the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.