The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

SUNDAY marked the start of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) postseason and Grand Bahamian Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the New York Liberty began their playoff quest on a high note.

The Libs dominated the eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream 83-69 in game one of the best-of-three first-round matchup yesterday evening at the Barclays Centre.

There were some concerns surrounding the NY Liberty following their losses to the Minnesota Lynx and Dream in two out of their last three regular season games. 

However, the league’s top-seeded team steamrolled the Dream behind the efforts of their starting unit, which had four players score in double digits.

“JJ” was the lone starter to finish the game under double digits, but she put up nine points, seven rebounds and three assists while shooting 3-for-5 from the field.

Forward Leonie Fiebich was the star of the show for the Libs. She posted a career-high 21 points which included 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc.

Last year’s league MVP Breanna Stewart closed out the game with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The game was never really in doubt for the Liberty in their wire-to-wire victory. 

The 2023 WNBA championship runners-up were up by just four (13-9) at the 5:33 mark of the first quarter. 

After this point, the Liberty climbed out to an unanswered 14-0 run to jump ahead 27-9. They ended the first period in charge 29-16. 

Jones picked up an assist off a go-ahead pass to Fiebich who made a layup to give the Liberty a 35-20 cushion with 6:59 to play before halftime. The Dream were able to cut down the deficit to 11 (36-25) with under five minutes to go but Jones extended the lead for the Libs with a quick layup.

The Liberty remained in control 48-30 at the halftime break.

The first half surge was all the WNBA title favourites needed to put away the (15-25) Atlanta Dream. 

The visitors never led at any point during the game and trailed by as much as 22 points in the contest.

The Liberty shot 29-of-67 on field goals for 43.3 per cent while holding the Dream to 27-of-68 for 39.7 per cent. 

The Brooklynn based team was also lethal from deep. They canned 34.8 per cent of their threes while the Dream struggled at 18.8 per cent. 

They also made their trips to the charity stripe count. The Libs cashed in on 17-of-18 attempts for 94.4 per cent shooting at the line. Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard scored a team-high 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in the loss.

New York will have an opportunity to send Atlanta packing with a victory at home Tuesday night. The game will begin at 7:30pm in the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York.