The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AFTER an undefeated preseason, Jonquel Jones and Connecticut Sun stumbled out of the gate in their regular season debut Saturday against the third ranked team in the WNBA.

Jones finished with six points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the Sun’s 93-70 loss to the Chicago Sky at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, on Saturday night. Jones shot 1-4 in a foul plagued 23 minutes.

The Sky, playing without reigning WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne, were led by Courtney Vandersloot’s 14 points and seven assists and Cappie Pondexter’s 13 points. Alex Bentley led the Sun with 14 points while Racheal Banham scored 13.

The Sun struggled offensively from the opening tip and fell behind early after missing six of its first seven shot attempts.

The Sky led wire to wire and opened an early 10-4 lead.

The Sun came within one (14-13) with 1:38 left to play in the first quarter, but it would be as close as they would come. The Sky ended the period on an 8-0 run to take a 22-13 lead after the first.

Chicago outscored Connecticut 23-12 in the second and went on a 19-5 run to take a 45-25 lead into the half.

The Sun had their most productive quarter in the third when they outscored the Sky 33-27, but never legitimately threatened the deficit.

In the preseason Associated Press rankings, the Sky came into the season ranked third in the WNBA power rankings while the Sun was ranked fifth.

The Sun will continue to search for their first victory when they face the San Antonio Stars on Thursday, May 19. They will follow with their first home game against the Washington Mystics on Saturday, May 21.

During the preseason, Jones averaged 11.3 points, 7 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 21.7 minutes per game as they finished with an impressive 3-0 win-loss record.

One of those preseason matchups included a 76-53 win over the Stars where Jones finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

During the preseason, she discussed the transition to the professional game with The Tribune.

“The transition from college to the WNBA has definitely been more physical. Getting used to the physicality of the game, a lot of plays that you have to learn and just playing against players who have been in the league for five, six, 10 years,” she said. “As a rookie coming out of college, this is all new, but you have to be ready to adapt to the game mentally. That is something that I’m trying to get used to. I struggled a bit in the third and fourth quarters in terms of my mentality, but that’s something that I know I have to grow into here in Connecticut with the coaching staff.”

Selected sixth overall by the Los Angeles Sparks, Jones was immediately traded to the Sun in exchange for Chelsea Gray and the Sun’s first round pick in 2017.

After a dismal season where they finished 15-19 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year, the Sun added three of the top six picks in last month’s WNBA Draft - Jones, Morgan Tuck and Banham.