The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JONQUEL Jones continues to produce at an All-Star level and her Connecticut Sun have followed suit as one of the hottest teams in the WNBA.

The Sun have won five of their last six games and have moved into third place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-6 record.

Their five-game win streak came to an end yesterday afternoon in a 96-82 loss to the Dallas Wings, but Jones was able to post yet another double double.

Jones finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds two assists and two blocked shots at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Dallas took a 23-21 lead at the end of the first quarter and the Wings took a commanding 49-39 lead at the half.

Dallas won their fourth consecutive game and improved to 8-8. The teams meet again on August 12 and August 23, with both games in Connecticut.

On Friday, the Sun nearly squandered a 21-point deficit in a 94-89 win over the New York Liberty.

Jones finished with 21 points (3-5 from beyond the arch) and seven rebounds in their fifth consecutive win.

The Sun led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, but the Liberty stormed back to tie the game at 86-86 with 1:06 to play. Courtney Williams made a jumper to put the Sun back up by two and Jasmine Thomas then sank a three to give Connecticut a five point advantage with 24.4 seconds to play. Shekinna Stricklen and Jones sank free throws in the final seconds to ice the victory for the Sun.

Connecticut was 12-of-24 from the three-point line. The 12 made threes were a season-high and the tied for the fifth highest total in franchise history.

Jones was recently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week honours for the first time in her two WNBA seasons. In leading the Sun to a 2-0 week, Jones paced the Eastern Conference in rebounding (10.0 rpg) and blocks (2.5 bpg) and shared the lead in steals (2.0 spg). She also ranked sixth in scoring (17.5 ppg) and third in field goal percentage (.737, 14-of-19).

Jones is having an All-Star calibre season, averaging 15.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. The second-year forward is seeking help from the Bahamian public in her selection bid.

WNBA All-Star Voting 2017, presented by Verizon, opened in early June. Verizon WNBA All-Star 2017 will be played on Saturday (July 22) at KeyArena, home of the Seattle Storm. The game will be broadcast on ABC at 3:30pm. To vote for Jones, the Bahamian public can take to social media apps Facebook and Twittter and post “#WNBAVote Jonquel Jones” to officially vote for the Grand Bahamian native.

The leading vote-getters in each conference will be announced Thursday, June 29 on ESPN2 as Jones and the Sun take on the Seattle Storm.

All-Star starters will then be announced live on ESPN July 11 during the noon edition of Sportscenter. WNBA head coaches will select reserves for both conferences, which will be announced July 18, live on ESPN2.

The WNBA will take a three-tier approach to All-Star Voting this year which will include media, WNBA players/coaches and fans. Fan voting, an all-digital programme, will conclude at 9pm on Thursday, July 6. WNBA fans may submit one full ballot each day through WNBA.com (desktop or mobile) or the WNBA App (available on Android and iOS). Fans may also vote for up to 10 players per day on Twitter and Facebook.