The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahamian native Jonquel Jones and her Connecticut Sun suffered a heart-breaking loss to the New York Liberty as they opened their Women’s National Basketball Association 2022 season on Saturday.

Playing away at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York, the Sun dropped a 81-79 decision to Liberty as Jones finished with 15 points, including a clutch three-pointer for their final margin to go along with seven rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

Alyssa Thomas paced Connecticut with 25 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Jasmine Thomas scored 13, Brionna Jones added 11 points and DiJonai Carrington ended up with 10 points.

Sabrina Ionescu led New York with a game high 25 points and six assists, while Natasha Howard added 16 points, Sami Whitcomb added 25 points and five assists and Jocelyn Willoughby, the No.10 overall selection in the 2020 WNBA draft, chipped in with 13 points as she made her return from a torn left Achilles tendon that sidelined her last season.

Jones, the reigning league most valuable player, tried to rally Connecticut, who couldn’t get its 3-pointers to fall throughout the game, going 4 of 17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, New York made 10 of 25 attempts, good for a 40% clip from deep.

The Sun, coached by general manager Curt Miller, the 2021 Coach of the Year, played without Courtney Williams, who was serving the first game of a two-game suspension from an incident over the offseason, and DeWanna Bonner, still competing overseas in Turkey with her timeline to return to the team unclear.

In their absence, the Sun held their own at the beginning of the game, opening up a 19-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter, The Liberty, however, responded to snatch a commanding 38-30 lead at the half.

Jones, coming off her sensational off season in the Russian Basketball League before the war against Ukraine got started, only contributed nine points up to that point. But while the 6-foot, 6-inch forward was aggressive on the defensive end, Jones stepped up her offence in the second half as Connecticut made a gallant comeback.

Outscoring New York 29-20 in the third quarter, Connecticut took a slim 59-58 margin into the fourth. Both teams traded the lead until the Liberty went up 78-74 on Willoughby’s driving finger roll lay-up with one minute and 53 seconds to play.

Connecticut came within two, 78-76 on a pair of free throws from Carrington at the 1:12 mark. On a Liberty turnover at 36.9, Jones got open for a clear three-point shot, but the ball bounced off the tip of the rim.

Ten seconds later on an offensive rebound from Carrington, Jones got the pass and on a step back jumper, she missed again. New York extended their lead on two free throws from Willoughby, 80-76, with 12.6 on the clock.

After Thomas missed a three-point attempt with 9.7 remaining, she converted the first of her pair of free throws for a 81-76 lead for Liberty. Then with 3.3 to go, Jones canned another three to chip the deficit to 81-79 before the final buzzer sounded.

Despite the loss, Miller, who was named the Coach of the Year last year, said he still has high expectations for his Sun over the horizon.

“While the result is disappointing, it’s the start of our journey this year,” Miller said. “New rosters and new teammates, new dreams, and so I’m excited about this start and what could be this year.”

The Sun, who finished as the top seeds in the 2021 regular season before they got eliminated 3-2 in the semifinals by the Phoenix Mercury, will be back in action at 7pm on Saturday, May 14.

At that time, Connecticut will host their first home game as they celebrate their 20th season in the league against the Los Angeles Sparks, who opened their season on Friday with a 98-91 win over the Chicago Sky.

In 2919, Connecticut reached the WNBA playoff finals for the first time since 2005.