The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The third time is usually the charm for most people but for Grand Bahamian Jonquel “JJ” Jones her fourth trip to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals was the one that counted the most when it was all said and done. 

Jones had a different look in her eyes and poise in her voice before the start of the series against the Minnesota Lynx and she certainly delivered in the final two games of the best-of-five championship series.

She willed the New York Liberty to their first title in franchise history and picked up the first WNBA championship of her storied career in the team’s gutsy 67-62 overtime victory at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York, last night.

Her already long list of career accolades got even lengthier last night with a WNBA championship and WNBA Finals MVP that made her the first Bahamian to ever accomplish such a feat. Additionally, she is just the third non-American to win the WNBA crown and the 11th player to go home with both the title and Finals MVP honours.

She was visibly emotional but vocal about her journey to get this point in her career after the game.

“Y’all know my story,” Jones said during her on-court interview. “Y’all know how many times I’ve been denied, but it was delayed, that’s all it was. I’m so happy to do it here.” 

Jones came within arm’s reach of a WNBA title on three previous occasions. She made it to the finals twice with her former team the Connecticut Sun in 2019 and 2022 and last year with the Liberty. 

The Grand Bahama native left Eight Mile Rock at just 13-years-old to pursue her dream of being a pro baller. Seventeen years later, she has achieved a feat that has made the entire process all worth it. She was a force to be reckoned with all series long. 

In the five games played, the finals MVP averaged 17.8 points per game and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 56 per cent from the field. She led the Libs in scoring in the closeout game with a team-high 17 points, six rebounds and one dime. She shot 5-for-10 and went a perfect 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.

Her teammates Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu managed to hit double digits but struggled with efficiency. Stewart scored 13 points and 15 rebounds but shot 4-for-15. Meanwhile, Ionescu finished with 5 points on 1-for-10 shooting.

The Lynx and Liberty gave each other their best efforts all series long so it was no surprise that game five went down to the final buzzer. 

Through three quarters of play, New York had a narrow three-point advantage (47-44) going into the final quarter of regulation.

Ionescu knocked down a timely three at the 3:10 mark of the fourth to lift the Liberty to a 56-54 cushion. WNBA defensive player of the year Napheesa Collier scored on a layup to cut into the slim Libs lead.

Collier once again hit a big bucket, this time it was a two-pointer that put the Lynx on top 60-58 with 1:04 remaining in the game.

Former MVP Stewart found herself in a similar situation to game one at the freethrow line. She learned from her previous woes at the charity stripe and canned two freebies to force OT.

While the Lynx were running out of gas, New York fed off the energy of the electric home crowd.

They scored five straight points to start the extra period of play and went on to outscore their visitors 7-2 down the stretch.

New York was the best team all season, finishing with a league’s best record of 32-8. After falling to the Las Vegas Aces last year, the team came into the season on a mission to get the job done and they did it in dominant fashion.

The city of New York can now celebrate its first basketball title win since 1973, when the Knicks won the NBA crown.