After seeing their four-game win streak snapped last Friday against the Chicago Sky, the Connecticut Sun scored a season-high 105 points in hopes of starting another winning streak on Wednesday. Bahamian Jonquel ‘JJ’ Jones dropped in 15 points to help her team take down the Atlanta Dream, 105-92, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Jones almost got a double-double as she was able to grab nine boards. Her 15 points came after she was held to a season-low seven points against the Sky despite grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds.
The win kept the Sun in second place in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Standings with an 11-4 win/loss record. They sit one and a half games behind the league-leading Las Vegas Aces who are 12-2 on the season.
The Sun shot 14-for-26 from distance, shooting 53.8 percent, and it was tough for the Dream to overcome that.
Grand Bahama native Jones shot 6-for-13 from the field. She was able to knock down three shots from deep in five attempts. The center dished out two assists and swatted two shots away. She scored at least 15 points for the eighth time this season.
The Sun came out the gate playing strong as they went up 17-11 after the first five minutes of the game. Jones’ first bucket came at the 8:42 mark when she made a layup. Her next two made shots came from deep. The last one came with 3:09 left in the first quarter to put her team up 25-14.
At the end of the first quarter, the Sun led comfortably, 31-22.
The lead grew even more in the second quarter as the Sun kept dominating the Dream. Jones did not get on the scoreboard in that quarter, but her teammates helped the Sun extend their lead with a 27-19 second quarter advantage. At the half, the Sun led 58-41.
Sun’s Head Coach Curt Miller kept his starters in the game for much of the third quarter. The Bahamian scored seven points in that quarter before taking the night off with 3:30 left in the third. The Sun outscored the Dream in that quarter 25-17 to go into the fourth quarter with an insurmountable 83-56 lead.
The Sun shot the ball at a blistering 51.9 percent clip for the game while holding the Dream to 46.1 percent from the field.
In the 15 games she has played in, Jones is averaging 15 points per game while grabbing 8.7 rebounds per game. Both are down from her Most Valuable Player (MVP) season numbers in 2021 but her team is winning. She is averaging 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. She has been more efficient from the field, from deep and at the charity stripe to start the season. Jones is shooting 53 percent from the field, 40.7 percent from deep and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
The Sun will return to action tonight when they host the Seattle Storm at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. The fourth-placed Storm, according to the standings, will bring its 9-4 record to Uncasville, Connecticut, for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Sun.
