Jones nets 26 points in season opener

Bahamian women’s professional basketball player Jonquel “JJ” Jones did not log a single minute in 582 days in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), but she did not skip a beat on Friday night, posting a game-high 26 points to guide the Connecticut Sun (1-0) to a 78-67 victory over the Atlanta Dream (0-1) at the Gateway Center in College Park, Georgia.

It was the first time that Sun fans got to see the frontcourt duo of Jones and last season’s free agent signee DeWanna Bonner, together in action for the first time. They did not disappoint, as Bonner dropped 21 points to complement Jones’ game-high. They scored a combined total of 47 points.

Jones finished the night shooting a blistering 10-for-15 from the field, 66.7 percent. The Grand Bahama native showed her long range shooting ability, connecting on two out of her four shot attempts from beyond the arc. She went 4-for-7 from the charity stripe. In rebounding, she grabbed four offensive rebounds and four defensive rebounds to finish tied with a team-high with eight in just under 30 minutes of play. She was able to come away with one steal.

In the first quarter, Jones wasted no time exerting her dominance. She scored 16 points in the first quarter alone, and the Sun held on to a 22-17 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Sun scored 10 three-pointers in this game on 23 attempts, shooting 43.5 percent from that mark. Their opponents took 18 attempts from deep but was only able to make three three-pointers.

By the end of the second quarter, the Sun held a double-digit lead, 43-33.

Jones had a pair of putback layups and a free throw in the third, and the Sun went into the fourth quarter with a 62-49 lead. The 2016 sixth overall draft pick in the WNBA scored five more points in the fourth quarter before taking the night off with 1:09 left in the game.

The Sun was unstoppable on the glass as they outrebounded the Dream by 16 rebounds – 42-26.

Courtney Williams and Odyssey Sims both poured in 14 points for the Dream.

Jones opted out last season that was played in the bubble because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her team made it as far as the semifinals in her absence, coming to within a game of advancing to the final.

Jones, 27, played for UMMC Ekaterinburg (18-0) in the Russian Premier League regular season at the end of 2020. They enjoyed a successful season, not losing a single game, and completed the golden treble by winning the league title, the Russian Super Cup, and was crowned the best women’s team in Europe when they won the EuroLeague title.

It was a good tune up for the center as she looks to improve on her 2019 season averages and help the Sun win their first WNBA title.

In 2019, Jones played and started all 34 regular season games for the Sun and finished with averages of 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 44.8 percent from the field in 28.8 minutes per game. Defensively, she finished with 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Jones received several honors that season including being named a WNBA all-star, and advancing to the WNBA Second Team and WNBA All-Defensive First Team.

The Sun was in action last night, taking on the Phoenix Mercury in their home opener at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, but the result was unavailable up to press time.

This is the 25th anniversary season of the WNBA.

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