Bahamian women's professional basketball player Jonquel "JJ" Jones and the New York Liberty were back in action following the all-star break in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and it seems like they have to brush off some cobwebs, as they fell to the Dallas Wings, 98-88, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday.
It was the Liberty's third home loss of the season and fifth in total. They now have a 14-5 win/loss record, four games behind the league-leading defending champions, Las Vegas Aces (19-2).
As for Jones, she finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in 29:13 on the floor. The Bahamian post player shot 5-for-8 from the field and hit her only shot from three-point range.
In her first season with the Liberty, Jones is averaging 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, down from her numbers in six years with the Connecticut Sun – 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. She is shooting 53.6 percent from the floor and continues to be a force defensively, but saw her playing time drop this year, and as a result, so did her production, thereby missing the league's all-star game for the first time since 2018.
After taking a 51-49 lead at the half, the Liberty fell apart in the third quarter against the Wings on Wednesday and couldn't recover. They shot just 30 percent from the field in that third quarter, knocking down six of 20 shots, compared to 57.1 percent for the Wings (12-for-21). The Wings went on an 18-2 scoring run midway through the third and never looked back. They led by as much as 13 points in the third and went on to lead 78-67 at the end of three.
The Wings scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to take their biggest lead of the game, 16 points, at 83-67. The Liberty got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 25 points and the Wings tied the WNBA record for fewest turnovers in a game with two to pull off the matinee affair in Brooklyn. They matched the Washington Mystics' league record for fewest turnovers that was set in 2020.
Teaira McCowan added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Wings.
Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and Sabrina Ionescu added 22 for the Liberty, including going 5-for-11 from three-point range. Prior to the loss, the Liberty had won four in a row and eight of their last nine.
The Liberty lead the Eastern Conference Standings and are second in the league behind the Aces. The Wings have now won four straight games – the second longest win streak in the league. They are second in the west and fifth overall with a 12-9 record.
Trailing 60-59 nearly four minutes into the third quarter, Dallas took over. The Wings scored the next 12 points, including two three-pointers by Ogunbowale, to get their first double-digit lead of the game.
New York won the first meeting between the two in Dallas, 102-93, but now the Wings have tied the season series at a game apiece.
Jones and the Liberty return to action on Friday, taking on the Mystics on the road at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. That game will get underway at 7 p.m.
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