The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

WOMEN’S National Basketball Association (WNBA) pro Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the New York Liberty went into Sunday’s game against the second seeded Minnesota Lynx with the goal of securing home court advantage for the WNBA postseason.

However, the reigning Commissioner’s Cup champions thwarted their chances with an 88-79 loss on Sunday at the Barclays Centre.

The Lynx have had New York’s number all season long, winning two out of three regular season games and the Commissioner’s Cup final.

The Libs dropped to a 31-7 win/loss record while the Lynx improved to a 29-9 record and extended their winning streak to six games.

The Grand Bahamian centre had nine points, five  rebounds and one block in 23 minutes played. She wasn’t her usual self on offence, shooting just 3-for-7 on field goals and 1-for-3 from deep.

Reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart led all scorers with 38 points. She also pulled down 18 rebounds and picked up two steals.

The Lynx came out of the gates rolling which led to a lopsided 30-17 lead ahead of the second quarter. Jones did most of her damage in this period. She canned a three from deep off an assist from Courtney Vandersloot to trim the deficit down to 12 (37-25). 

The Liberty made up some ground during the second quarter but were still trailing 52-39 to end the first half. 

The Lynx then turned up the intensity once again in the third period. They opened up this segment of the game on an 11-0 run which translated to a 63-39 lead. A bad start to the quarter put the Liberty behind 74-50 with one quarter remaining. Despite the team outscoring the Lynx 29-14 in the final quarter, the damage was already done through three quarters of play.

Minnesota shot 53 per cent on field goals while holding the Liberty to 39.1 per cent. In addition to that, they made 9-of-18 three-pointers on 50 per cent shooting while the Libs went 8-of-28 on 28.6 per cent shooting.

The Lynx had five players eclipse double digits. Minnesota forward Bridget Carleton dropped a team-high 19 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in the win.

Prior to this loss, the Liberty pummeled the Dallas Wings 99-67 at the College Park Centre in Arlington, Texas last Thursday. 

Jones finished that game with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. This game was particularly special for the former WNBA MVP as she became the first player in WNBA history to reach 300 made three-pointers while shooting 50 per cent from the field.

She reached her latest career milestone at the 4:22 mark of the third quarter when she splashed a three off an assist from Stewart.

With just two regular season games remaining on the schedule, the NY Liberty will look to rebound from last night’s loss on Tuesday against the (13-25) Washington Mystics at 7pm.