The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AMONG the shining stars of the WNBA, Jonquel Jones solidified herself as one of the top talents in the league by stealing the show at the 2017 All-Star Game.

The Connecticut Sun forward finished with 24 points (three three-pointers), nine rebounds and one slam-dunk as her East All-Stars lost 130-121 to the West All-Stars at Key Arena in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday.

Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx was named the game's most valuable player.

"It was great to be able to go out there and play against some players that I've watched growing up, looking up to, and now I'm on the same court as them," Jones told the Sun's media team in post-game press conference. "It being my second season in the league, I didn't expect this to happen so quickly so I just wanted to go out there and take advantage of the opportunity."

With the game decided, players from both sides cleared a path for Jones to drive the lane and slam home a dunk that sent both benches and the Key Arena crowd into a frenzy.

Grand Bahamian Jones is averaging 15.8 points, a league-leading 11.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 29 minutes per game. The 6'6", 190-pound forward is also shooting 53 per cent from the field, 41 per cent from three-point range and 84 per cent from the free throw line.

"I just wanted to go out there and have fun," Jones said. "I want to get back to my team healthy and make that playoff push. That's the main thing. But it's great to go out there and have a good game here."

The Sun currently lead the Eastern Conference with a 12-9 record. Connecticut returns to action tomorrow night when they host the Chicago Sky at 7pm.

By virtue of having the top record in the conference, Sun coach Curt Miller and his staff coached Jones and her Sun teammates Jasmine Thomas and Alyssa Thomas in the All-Star game.

"It was an honour to coach the East team," Miller said at the post-game press conference. "We had a couple of goals when we came in with eight of the 11 first-time All-Stars - first and foremost to have a blast, to live in the moment and have fun."

She was voted as a starter in a new voting platform the WNBA implemented for the first time. The fan vote accounted for 50 per cent of the vote to determine the starters while current players and a media panel accounted for 25 per cent each. Fans cast 604,680 votes, more than double the number in 2015 (280,670).

In a postgame interview with ESPN's LaChina Robinson, Jones thanked the Bahamian public for their support in the voting campaign.

"The Bahamas is me, I am the Bahamas. Everybody there I think is one of the main reasons why I'm here as a starter because they voted, they got on social media and allowed me to be here so I'm happy to grow my game and it's going to allow me to go back to the Bahamas and do more things for the youth so I'm just really excited about everything," she said.

Prior to the season, a panel of WNBA general managers voted Jones as the player most likely to have a breakout year. She may also be in line for another post-season award as one of the league's most improved players with scoring and rebounding totals that more than double her production as a rookie.

Last season, Jones appeared in 34 games with six starts and averaged 6.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14 minutes per game.