The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Fresh off being named May’s Eastern Conference Player Month, Jonquel Jones continued her dominant play in the WNBA with the conference’s Player of the Week award, and will take a brief hiatus from the Connecticut Sun for international competition.

Jones will compete for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the upcoming 38th edition of FIBA’s Women’s Eurobasket Championships co-hosted between France and Spain, June 17-27.

The tournament also serves as part of European qualification for the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, with the top six nations advancing to the qualifying tournaments.

The Sun are currently 8-2, first in the WNBA standings. They return to the court on June 13 in their second matchup this season against the defending champion, Seattle Storm.

This is the eighth time Jones has been named player of the week in her career. The Sun went 2-0 for the week of May 31 to June 6, picking up wins over the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. Jones averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks on the week.

Through 10 games this season, Jones is fourth in the league in scoring at 21.6 points per game, leads in rebounds at 10.4 rebounds and also averages three assists and 1.2 blocks per game

She is also shooting 57 percent from the field and 49 percent from three point range.

Jones told The Day that she plans to return to the Sun on June 28 which means she would miss five games on the WNBA schedule while at the Eurobasket championships.

“It’s going to (stink). I understand the importance of (EuroBasket) and I’m proud to represent the Bosnian national team, but it’s a tough time to be going,” Jones said, “I feel like I have a good flow right now. I feel like things are trending upwards for (the team). I hate that I have to leave, but it’s necessary.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina will open play in Group C against Belgium on Thursday, June 17 at Rhenus Sport in Strasbourg, France. They follow with a matchup against Turkey on Friday June 18 and complete the group stage with a matchup against Slovenia on June 20.

In 2018, Jones made the decision to gain citizenship with Bosnia and Herzegovina and compete for their national team to further her opportunities.

“Please know that I am and will always be a Bahamian. There is nothing that can change that and no amount of money in the world could ever make me give up my citizenship,” Jones said at the time of her decision, “That being said, as a professional athlete I have a very short window to capitalise on everything I have worked for my entire life. The European passport allowed me to propel myself financially and competitively, with the only stipulation being that I would no longer be able to play for the Bahamian National Team.”

Jones made her debut with Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 2019.

Through four games of the Eurobasket Qualifiers, Jones averaged 24.5 points, 13.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 blocks per game on 50.7 percent shooting from the field.

In a win over Estonia, Jones finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and two blocked shots and finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks in a loss to Russia. She added 26 and 16 points in a win over Switzerland and 29 points and 16 rebounds in a win over Russia.