The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BEHIND the Most Valuable Player (MVP) performance of Grand Bahamian Jonquel Jones, the New York Liberty upset the Las Vegas Aces to win the Commissioner’s Cup.

Jones had 16 points and 15 rebounds, Marine Johannes scored 17 points with five 3-pointers and the Liberty beat the Aces 82-63 last night to win the third WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship.

New York handed Las Vegas its first home loss of the season — in 16 games — after holding the Aces below 65 points for the second time in nine days.

In the Liberty’s first appearance in the in-season tournament, the powerhouse Eastern Conference squad earned the resounding win over the defending champions.

The ongoing rivalry between the dominant ladies’ teams definitely came head-to-head throughout the first three periods of the game.

Jones’ team threw the first blow early, claiming a 17-11 advantage over the Aces in the initial period of play.

However, the latter tied the score 32 apiece erasing the early deficit created by the Eastern Conference team.

The score favoured the Aces 34-32 as they regained their footing in the ballgame and looked to keep the momentum going into the second half of play.

Former WNBA MVP Jones showed glimpses of her previous self in the bout, ending the night with a monster 16 points and 15 rebounds double double.

The Aces had no answer for Jones who completed the first half with nine points and five rebounds as she was prepared to propel her team to a Commissioner’s Cup win. Jones held down the fort in the paint but the real difference maker was bench points where the Liberty outscored the Aces 28 to 8. Marine Johannès played an instrumental role off the pine for the Eastern Conference leader, pouring in 17 points in 14:20 minutes of action while splashing 5 three-pointers on the night.

It was a tale of two halves at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, because following the brief intermission the Liberty outscored the Aces 24-14 in the third quarter. Meanwhile, in the final period of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals the team remained dialed in on offense and stingy on defense. The first-seeded Eastern Conference team on the Commissioner’s Cup leaderboard, put the pedal to the medal and ran out to a 14-point lead (66-52) at the 7:05 mark. The game was no doubt a foregone conclusion after that point as the Liberty notched their biggest lead of the game going up 20 points with only 2:18 remaining.

Despite it being one of forward Breanna Stewart’s worst games of the season, both Courtney Vandersloot and Sabrina Ionescu chipped in to aid Jones’ efforts. Vandersloot pumped in 11 points to complement her 10 dimes and Ionescu notched 12 points and 8 boards.

The two respective Eastern and Western conference leaders will add more fuel to the ongoing rivalry in the next meetup on Thursday at 10pm at the Michelob ULTRA Arena.