The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

SINCE Jonquel Jones was moved into the starting lineup, the Connecticut Sun have trended upward as one of the WNBA’s hottest teams and have won three of their last four games.

 The Sun recorded their largest margin of victory for the season with an 86-64 win over the Indiana Fever yesterday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. Their five previous wins were by a total of 15 points.

Jones was plagued by foul trouble with just nine minutes on the floor and finished with five points and two blocked shots.

Chiney Ogwumike led the Sun with 20 points and eight rebounds while Alyssa Thomas added 14 points.

Connecticut was ahead by 17 points midway through the second quarter, but Indiana scored the first nine points of the second half to tie it at 44-all.

The Fever only made two more field goals in the third quarter as Connecticut closed on a 19-5 run for a 63-49 lead.

Early season struggles placed the Sun at a disadvantage but they improved their record to 6-14 and are currently ranked 11th in the Associated Press power poll. Fifth-ranked Indiana fell to 9-12 on the season.

The Sun, who are just 3-7 on the road this season, won their first game against an Estern Conference opponent in ten attempts.

The team’s have split the two meetings thus far this season.

In late June, the Sun front office decided to alter its roster after a disappointing start to the season and the move paid immediate dividends for Jones.

In the first game following the trade, Jones finished with a rookie season high 16 points and tied her season high with nine rebounds.

She also added three blocks and two steals in a season high 29 minutes.

The additional minutes in the front court were made available to Jones once the Sun traded Kelsey Bone to the Mercury for rookie Courtney Williams and the draft rights to Jillian Alleyne, as well as a second round pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft.

In 2015, Bone earned the WNBA’s Most Improved Player Award after averaging a career-high 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. This season, she averaged 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds through the first 14 games of the year.

On the season Jones is averaging 5.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in just over 12 minutes per game.

Friday July 15, Jones will face the team who originally drafted her, the league’s top ranked Los Angeles Sparks who boast a 19-1.

The Sparks have the best start in WNBA history since the 1998 Houston Comets went 20-1.