Connecticut Sun forward Jonquel Jones (35) works between New York Liberty defenders Betnijah Laney, left, Sami Whitcomb (32) and Natasha Howard during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, in Uncasville, Conn. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day via AP)
By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
Jonquel Jones posted her league leading 17th double double of the season and the Connecticut Sun set a new franchise record with their 13th consecutive win.
Jones finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Sun to a 98 - 69 win over the New York Liberty last night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
She shot 8-13 from the field and also added four assists and two blocked shots in just under 30 minutes.
The Sun improved to 25-6 and have already clinched the No.1 seed in the WNBA playoffs with a bye through to the semifinals.
The 13 game win streak surpassed the previous franchise of 12 straight wins, set back in 2006.
Defence and rebounding were again the deciding factors in the third win and season sweep over the Liberty.
After trailing 47-44 at the half, the Sun limited the Liberty to just 13 points in the third and single digit scoring (nine) in the fourth quarter. They went on a 32-11 run to close the third and outscored New York 54-22 in the second half to pull away.
Jones has been particularly productive against New York. In the first matchup of the season on June 5, she totalled a season high 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in an 85-64 win. She followed that with 17 points and 17 rebounds on July 11 as the Sun limited the Liberty to just 26 second half points en route to another blowout win, 71-54.
Connecticut has not lost a regular season game since July 3 and saw the return of All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered last January.
“Honestly I think it just feels like we’re clicking at the right time, we’re peaking at the right time, sometimes you peak early in the season, sometimes you peak like a little bit in the middle but I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Jones said last week after the Sun brought an end to the Phoenix Mercury’s 10 game win streak, “The tempo that we’re playing at is really good, our defence is locked in every night, Everybody is contributing and we’re just really hard to stop.”
The Sun will conclude the regular season Sunday, September 19 when they host the Atlanta Dream at 1pm.
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