The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JONQUEL Jones and the Connecticut Sun had a historic finish to the 2021 WNBA regular season and now set their sights on the postseason as the No 1 overall seed.

Jones had her league-leading 18th double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds key the Sun’s 84-64 win over the Atlanta Dream in the regular season finale at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut yesterday.

The Sun finished the regular season 26-6, which included a 15-1 record at home in the Mohegan Sun.

Their regular season win streak concluded at 14 games, which marked the longest win streak to end a season and was the fourth-longest overall win streak in WNBA history.

The 2021 WNBA playoffs begin on Thursday, September 23 but the Sun have earned a double bye through to the semifinal and will face the lowest remaining seed to emerge from the first round.

The eight teams with the best record, regardless of conference, advance to the WNBA playoffs.

The top two seeds earn a double-bye to the semifinal round, while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds earn byes into the second round. Seed Nos. 5-8 will partake in a one-game playoff as to which team advances into the second round. The first and second rounds of the WNBA playoffs are single-elimination, but the semifinal round and WNBA Finals are each a best-of-five series.

All 19 WNBA playoff games will be broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2. You can stream every game at ESPN.com or the ESPN app.

Jones, a frontrunner for MVP, is the league’s leading rebounder at 11.2 boards per game and the fourth leading scorer at 19.4 points per game. She also averaged a career high 2.8 assists, career high 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. She shot 52 percent from the field, 80 percent from the free throw line and 36 percent from beyond the three point arch.

Jones became the 1st WNBA player to average over 19 points, over 11 rebounds , and more than one steal and one block per game in a single season.

In an accolade filled 2021 campaign, Jones was recently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time this season and 11th time in her WNBA career. This season, she has also been named Kia WNBA Player of the Month twice, in June and August.

In a season of milestones, Jones also reached the 2000 career point plateau and shined on the league’s brightest stage as an All-Star.

On WNBA All-Star night, Jones delivered an MVP caliber performance in a historic win for Team WNBA over the USA Olympic team and a second place finish in the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest. She finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots in Team WNBA’s 93-85 win over the Olympians at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In June, Jones took a brief hiatus from the Sun to lead Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 38th FIBA’s Women’s Eurobasket Championships. The Sun went 2-3 without her in the lineup. Jones is one of just two players in the WNBA to average a double double this season.

Jones, opted out of the shortened 2020 WNBA season amid COVID-19 pandemic concerns and went on to have a successful season in Europe which included three titles with UMMC Ekaterinburg.

Without Jones, last season, the Sun went 10-12 and advanced to the WNBA Semifinals. She returned to the Sun Wednesday following her completion of COVID-19 protocols.

In the 2019 WNBA season, Jones was named to the All-WNBA Second Team, the All-Defensive Team, and an All-Star for the second time. The Sun advanced to the Eastern Conference final before they were eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces.