The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

NEARLY at the halfway mark in the NCAA Women’s Division I College basketball season, Jonquel Jones is en route to an historic year as she leads the George Washington Colonials.

Jones recorded her eighth double-double of the season Saturday afternoon as she led the Colonials to a 77-67 victory over Atlantic 10 rival, the Richmond Spiders.

Four Colonials scored in double figures, led by Jones’ 21 points and 11 rebounds and George Washington extended its winning streak to 12 straight games. She shot 9-14 from the floor, added three assists and three blocked shots.

With a record of 14-2, Jones and crew equalled the best 16-game start in programme history, 3-0 in conference play.

The 12-game winning streak is the longest in eight years and equals the fifth-longest ever at GW.

The 6’4” junior forward has been named Atlantic 10 player of the week three times in six weeks.

Jones is the only player in the A-10 averaging a double-double on the season, as she leads the league in rebounding at 11.2 boards per game and ranks fifth in scoring at 16.4 points per game.

She is also second in the A-10 in field goal percentage at .541 and third in blocked shots at 1.6 per game.

Jones continues to rewrite the Colonials’ record books as she garnered the fourth player of the week honour of her two-year career with the programme. She is only the second player in school history to receive the conference award three times in a single season.

Jones was also named College Sports Madness Atlantic 10 Player of the Week and High-Major Player of the Week this season.

Jones’ breakout season began in earnest when she returned to Grand Bahama at the 2014 Junkanoo Jam.

She delivered an MVP performance and led her George Washington Colonials to the Freeport Division title at the St George’s Gymnasium. She posted a double double in the title game - 14 points all in the second half and 14 rebounds - in the 79-59 win over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday.

En route to the Freeport Division title, the Colonials defeated a pair of 2014 NCAA tournament teams, the Boilermakers and the North Carolina State Wolfpack in consecutive days. Both teams were also receiving votes in the national polls.

In the offseason, Jones was a dominant force on the Bahamas’ national team which finished fifth at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation championships in July. She was the tournament’s second leading scorer when she averaged 17.2 points and led the field in rebounds with 14 per game.