The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SMACK in the middle of what has been her best season so far in the Women's National Basketball Association, Connecticut Sun centre Jonquel 'JJ' Jones said she's heartbroken about the developments of Hurricane Dorian in Abaco and Grand Bahama.

The Grand Bahamian, who is preparing for the completion of the WNBA regular season with three more games to go, said it was devastating to watch what has transpired over the past few days with her family being adversely affected in Abaco.

"It has definitely broken my heart," said Jones as she took time out from practice. "My mommy and daddy were in Abaco, so they got hit hard by it. I haven't spoken to them since 11 am yesterday (Monday), so I'm just waiting to hear back from there."

Her parents, Preston and Ettamae Jones, were in Marsh Harbour, Abaco when their apartment was hit by the storm. They left to seek shelter, but returned to get some food to eat for the children who were with them.

"We spoke to them all day yesterday because my (older) sister, Juanita, has an Aliv phone. That was around 11, but we haven't spoken today. I don't know if her phone went dead, so I'm very concerned about their whereabouts."

"Anytime you see the Bahamas go through what it has gone through with people actually suffering and being trapped in their homes and the people who want to help can't come and help, it's heartbreaking," Jones said.

"So I just try to use basketball as an outlet, go to practice and use that time to being focused on getting better on the court and try to take my mind of everything that is happening off the court."

On her Instagram page, Jones has started a gofundme account and she indicated that she has already gotten a lot of support and she hopes that it will continue to grow because she wants to do her part to help as many people in Abaco and Grand Bahama as she can.

"We want to make sure we can do all we can to help the people in the Bahamas,' Jones said.

"I haven't spoken to our organisation (Connecticut Sun) yet, but I know they are going to do something.

"They are definitely going to do some stuff. They just don't want to talk about it until they do a press release on it. But there is a lot of good stuff coming ahead for the people of the Bahamas."

The Sun, riding a two-game win streak, are currently sitting in second place with a 22-9 win-loss record behind their Eastern Conference counterparts Washington Mystics, who are out front with a one game lead at 23-8.

"We are in a great spot," Jones said of her team's accomplishments. "I feel like we are playing our best basketball right now."

The Sun will be back in action tonight at 7 pm against the Dallas Wings. They will then play the Chiacgo Sky on Friday at 7:30 pm and wrap up their regular season on Sunday against the Indiana Fever on Sunday at 4 pm.

After that, it's the playoffs.

"Our expectation is to win," said Jones about the remainder of the season.

Now into her third year in the WNBA, the 6-6, 190-pound Jones, who played in this year's All-Star game, is currently leading the league in rebounds with 9.9 per game and block shots with 2.2. She is 13th in scoring with an average of 14.4 points per game with an average of 29.9 minutes in 31 games.

"I feel like it's been good, but I'm never really satisfied with what I do," said Jones, about her individual performance. "I know there is always room for improvement."

The 25-year-old Jones just hope that she can turn the off court heart break in Abaco and Grand Bahama into a jubilation for the Sun at the end of the WNBA season with Connecticut eventually celebrating as the 2019 champions.