The Tribune

JONQUEL Jones delivered another dominant performance and her hot shooting led the Connecticut Sun to a blowout win in their WNBA preseason finale.

Jones scored a game-high 21 points and shot a perfect 5-5 from three-point range in the Sun’s 98-79 win over the New York Liberty yesterday at Times Union Center in Albany, New York. She shot 8-10 from the field and added three rebounds in just 20 minutes.

The Sun led 43-40 at the half but broke the game open for good in the third quarter.

Connecticut opened the second half with a 10-0 run to pull away. Jones made a pair of threes on the run to help the Sun take a 53-40 lead with midway through the third. The Sun outscored the Liberty 32-19 in the period and held on for the win.

The Sun will open the 2019 WNBA season on Saturday, May 25, against the Washington Mystics.

Jones finished with 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in just 19 minutes of the Sun’s 100 – 66 win over the Liberty in her preseason debut. In game two, she finished with a double-double - 10 points, and a game-high 14 rebounds in just 20 minutes of the Sun’s 71-67 loss to the Dallas Wings.

Last season, Jones played 20.5 minutes per game as a reserve and started only 16 of the 34 regular-season games.

She was named the 2018 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, earning the honour as the league’s top reserve for the first time in her three-year career. She averaged 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, a career-high 1.7 assists and 1.24 blocked shots per game last season.

She tied for ninth in the WNBA in blocks and ranked fifth in field goal percentage (55.0) and second in three-point field goal percentage (46.7).

With 50 three-pointers made, she surpassed her total from the previous two seasons combined (36).

The Sun exercised the 4th year team options on Jones in September.

The 2017 campaign was full of milestones for the Grand Bahama native.

In her second season, she was named to the All-WNBA Second Team after she averaged a double double, set the league’s single season rebounds total, was named an All-Star and was awarded as the WNBA’s Most Improved Player.

Jones finished the year averaging 15.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game - a dramatic increase from her rookie season when she averaged 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

Her record-setting total was 403 rebounds for the season. She also added 20 double doubles.

Jones’ historic season included several individual milestones, including becoming just the second player in league history to record three 20-rebound games in a single season.