**A**fter being sidelined for more than a week with a right ankle injury, Grand Bahamian Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones, the starting center for the New York Liberty in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), returned to action on Tuesday night.
Jones helped spark the Liberty past the Atlanta Dream at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. They scored an 86-81 comeback victory.
The reigning WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) had missed the previous two games for the Liberty, against the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever, but suited up just in time to help the Liberty get back on track.
Jones delivered a steady performance in her return, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 25 minutes of action. She finished 4-for-10 from the field.
Though she showed some signs of rust, Jones still notched her sixth double-double of the season. She also moved up to seventh on the Liberty’s all-time rebounding list with 768 career boards.
The defending champions had to dig down deep to overcome a 17-point deficit against the visiting Dream.
With the win, the Liberty improved to a 10-1 win/loss record on the season. Without Jones, they suffered their first loss over the weekend, falling 102-88 to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
In the game on Tuesday, the Dream controlled the tempo early. They outscored New York, 23-16, in the second quarter to take a 43-40 lead at halftime.
The Dream took off with a 15-3 scoring run and Naz Hamilton pushed the team’s lead to 17 (64-47) at the 3:56 mark of the third period, forcing the Liberty to call a timeout.
Liberty three-point specialist Sabrina Ionescu came out of the timeout firing on all cylinders. She pumped in seven of her game-high 34 points toward the end of the third period.
The defending champions trimmed the gap to just eight, 68-60, thanks to a 13-4 run to close out the third.
In the final period, former league MVP Breanna Stewart and Ionescu took charge, powering New York’s offense in the closing minutes.
With 5:27 remaining, Ionescu found Jones for a two-point bucket that brought the Liberty to within one, 72-71.
Just over two minutes later, it was Ionescu feeding the Grand Bahamian again, this time for a clutch three-pointer that tied the game at 79.
Ionescu then iced the win from the free-throw line, sinking four straight free shots to seal the comeback win. Atlanta dropped to 8-4 in the Eastern Conference with the loss.
Stewart finished with 23 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 36 minutes of play.
Te-Hina Paopao led Atlanta with 16 points off the bench.
The Liberty won the rebounding battle 37-31 and outscored the Dream 40-30 in the paint. They also controlled the tempo, scoring 14 fast-break points compared to just six for Atlanta.
Next up for New York is a home matchup against the Phoenix Mercury. The matchup begins at 7 p.m. tonight.