Jonquel
Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones and the New York Liberty blasted the Toronto Tempo in Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) action on Sunday. The Liberty won, 106-69, at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Coming out of a three-week break, due to the staging of the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Women’s World Cup, Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones and the New York Liberty have won two games in a row and are still alive for a home series in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) playoffs.
The Liberty stunned the top seeded Minnesota Lynx, 93-81, at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday, and blasted the expansion Toronto Tempo, 106-69, at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday.
They now end the season with two home games against Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream.
The Liberty are in a three-way tie for sixth in the WNBA Standings with a 26-16 win/loss record. The Dream are two games ahead of them in fourth at 28-14, and the Indiana Fever are sandwiched between them at 27-15.
The Liberty won their only matchup with the Dream this season and split four games with the Fever with each team winning two games. As mentioned, the Liberty end the season with two home games against the Dream — tonight at 8pm and Wednesday at 8pm. The Fever play a home and away series against the Lynx in their two final games. The regular season ends Thursday, and just the top four teams get home-court advantage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
The Liberty could finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the standings, as five teams are separated by just two games.
As for Jones, the 32-year-old veteran center was strong on Friday night, turning in her 17th double-double of the season— the most for Jones since her second year in the league.
Jones had 18 points and 10 rebounds to help the Liberty beat the league-leading Lynx on Friday. She shot 8-for-17 from the field, and added two blocks and a steal. On Sunday, the 10-year veteran came back and scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting, but played just 20 minutes in a lopsided affair. Liberty Head Coach Chris DeMarco pulled all five starters in the third quarter.
On Sunday, Breanna Stewart scored 14 of her game-high 27 points in the third quarter to help the Liberty put the game out of reach.
They were ahead 29-19 after the opening quarter, and 45-37 at the break, but opened the third quarter on a 10-4 scoring run to take a 55-41 lead with 7:34 remaining in the third. The Tempo never got to within single digits again.
The Liberty led 78-57 at the end of three, and continued to coast in the fourth quarter. The 37-point win was the Liberty’s second biggest of the season. They beat the Las Vegas Aces, 111-71, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in August.
For the season, Jones is averaging 14.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and 39.5 percent from three-point range.
Jones has played in the WNBA postseason every year with the exception of her rookie season, and is looking to lead the Liberty to another title. They won the 2024 championship, and Jones was named WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The Liberty is making a sixth consecutive appearance in the playoffs. They are trying to make it back to the WNBA Finals after falling in the first round to the Phoenix Mercury last year. The previous year, they won the WNBA title three games to two over the Lynx.
Overall, the Liberty have won three games in a row, and four of their last five games, looking to gain some steam heading into the playoffs.