Opening night is tonight for Bahamian women's professional basketball player Jonquel "JJ" Jones and her new team, the New York Liberty, in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). They will get their 2023 season underway against the Washington Mystics on the road at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. That game is set for 7 o'clock and will be broadcasted on NBA TV.

The New York Liberty will be looking to improve on their 16-20 win/loss record from last season. They made the playoffs as the seventh seed but were eliminated 2-1 in the first round by the Chicago Sky. The Liberty revamped its roster in the offseason with some quality additions that included Jones. They are one of the favorites to win the title as well as the defending champions Las Vegas Aces. The Liberty have not been to the WNBA Finals since 2002.

After acquiring a former Most Valuable Player (MVP) in Jones, the Liberty showed how invested they are to ending their 20-year drought in the finals and went after another former MVP in Breanna Stewart, formerly of the Seattle Storm. The Liberty were not finished yet as they picked up WNBA champion Courtney Vandersloot to pair with Sabrina Ionescu for a formidable backcourt duo. Jones, Stewart and Vandersloot are familiar with each other as they spent three years together in Russia, playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg, a women's professional basketball team based out of Yekaterinburg, Russia. They play in the Russian Premier League, and until February 2022, in FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Europe's EuroLeague Women.

In New York, they will be coached by Sandy Brondello who has been a coach in the league since 2010.

After playing the Mystics, the Liberty will play two games at home including their home opener against the Indiana Fever on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Grand Bahamian might have circled their third game as she and the Liberty welcome her old team, the Connecticut Sun, for a showdown in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 27 at 7 p.m.

The Liberty dropped their two preseason games against the Sun and the Aces last week. Jones, Stewart and Vandersloot did not suit up for the game against the Sun. Jones finished with six points and four rebounds in the game against the Aces.

A year after turning in arguably the greatest season by a Bahamian athlete in history, Jones took a step back in 2022. She averaged 14.6 points on 51.3 percent shooting from the field while adding 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game and finished seventh in the MVP voting. However, she did manage to lead the Sun to a second WNBA Finals berth in four years where they lost to the Aces three games to one.

The game tonight will be a part of a four-game opening night schedule in the WNBA.

The post Jones, Liberty open WNBA regular season tonight appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Jones, Liberty open WNBA regular season tonight appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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