The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

AFTER suffering a devastating loss in game one of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals, Grand Bahamian Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the New York Liberty tied the series at one game apiece at the Barclays Centre on Sunday.

The Liberty found themselves on the receiving end of a narrow loss in game one, but in game two they bested the Minnesota Lynx 80-66 in Brooklyn, New York.

The Libs had four players record double-digit scoring numbers in the 14-point victory.

Jones was just one rebound shy of her 22nd postseason double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes played. She shot 6-for-13 on field goals and went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe.

The Grand Bahamian big also moved up to the seventh spot on the WNBA’s playoffs rebounds leaders list with 427. She passed Sylvia Fowles, who now sits in the eighth position with 426. 

Breanna Stewart, the 2023 WNBA MVP, had a balanced performance against the Lynx after a shaky game one. She turned in a game-high 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and seven steals in the win.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton also showed up with 20 points, two rebounds and two steals. She made 4-for-6 three pointers.

New York had the upper hand by 10 (31-21) after the opening quarter.

Minnesota hit an offensive dry spell in the early minutes of the second quarter while New York continued to pile on the points. 

After Minnesota’s Natasha Hiederman knocked down a three-pointer to shift the score to 33-27 at the 7:15 mark, the Liberty ran ahead with an unanswered 10-0 run.

Laney-Hamilton continued to make it rain from long range and canned a three at the 3:21 mark to give the Libs a 17-point advantage.

New York went into the halftime break in the driver’s seat 49-39.

In the second half, Minnesota seemed poised to pull off a similar upset to game one. They erased the Liberty’s double digit deficit down to just four points (57-53) with less than three minutes remaining in the third.

Despite the Lynx getting that close, Stewart scored the final four points for the Liberty in the third period to keep the team ahead 61-53.

It seemed as if the Liberty would suffer another fourth quarter meltdown as the Lynx closed 64-62 following a Napheesa Collier two-pointer.

New York were determined to not let game two slip away and they reeled off 12 unanswered points to outscore the Lynx 19-13 in the final quarter of game two.

The home team valued twos more than threes in their latest win. The Libs shot a scorching 11-for-24 from three on 45.8 per cent shooting while the Lynx went 6-for-20 on 30 per cent shooting.

The Liberty also dominated the rebound category 34-27.

Collier and Courtney Williams dropped 16 and 15 points respectively in the loss on the road.

The battle for the 2024 WNBA crown continues on Wednesday night at 8pm at the Target Centre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.