The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JONQUEL Jones has found her shooting stroke and the Connecticut Sun are set to make a late-season push toward the WNBA playoffs.

Jones finished with a game-high 21 points, 7-13 from the field including 4-8 from three-point range in just 18 minutes of her Sun's 92-77 win over the New York Liberty at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Wednesday night.

Jones scored seven points during a 12-3 run to help put Connecticut ahead 35-26. The Sun lead grew to 72-60 in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter and New York was still within 76-65 with 4:51 left. That's when a pair of threes from Jones and one from Williams contributed to a 12-3 run that made it 88-68 with 1:36 left.

It was the third straight win for the Sun (15-12), who finished 2-1 against the Liberty (7-19) on the season.

"I think we had positive energy coming out for this game, everybody was keeping positive, everybody was trying to talk. I think when we have that type of energy it's easy for us to come out and turn it around. I think we understand how important defence is and I think when we get out there and we do that, everything just really clicks for us.

"I think when we get out there and we do that on the defensive end it goes a long way," Jones said to ESPN in the post-game interview. "I work hard and when I come out I just have to trust that process, trust that I put up the shots and put up the time so when I come out I just want to speak less and play more. The standings are close, are tight, we're a playoff team so anything less is a disappointment so we know it's a final push and we want to make sure we're there at the end."

Since a July 13 game where Jones scored just five points in 14 minutes, Jones has averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on 63 per cent shooting from the field and 48 per cent shooting from three-point range.

The Sun will play at home again Sunday, celebrating Breast Health Awareness when they host the Las Vegas Aces at 3pm.

Since the 2016 season, the WNBA implemented changes to playoff seeding and qualification procedures as well as the postseason format. Under the new postseason structure, the eight teams with the highest winning percentages regardless of conference qualify for the playoffs and are seeded based on their record. The Sun are currently ranked No.7 in the playoff standings, one game behind the No.6 Phoenix Mercury, just 0.5 game ahead of the No.8 Dallas Wings and two games ahead of the Aces.

There are seven games left in the WNBA regular season.