UNCASVILLE, Connecticut (AP) — Brenna Stewart scored 24 points and Jonquil Jones had 14 points and 11 rebounds in her return to Connecticut as the New York Liberty beat the Sun 89-81 Tuesday night.
The victory moved Liberty into a tie with Connecticut at the top of the Commissioner’s Cup standings in the Eastern Conference. Each team has one game remaining though New York has a tiebreaker having swept the two games against the Sun.
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Las Vegas has already wrapped up its Western Conference slot.
Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut (12-4) with 11 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for her fifth career triple-double. I’ve now done it in consecutive matches and three times in the past seven days. Thomas is the record holder in this category. Dejunay Carrington scored a career-high 23 points to lead Connecticut.
New York (10-3) was leading 80-68 with 6:26 left before Connecticut (12-4) scored 13 straight, the last on a contested field goal layup by Thomas with 3:39 left and that point was 11. her and gave her a triple double. The Sun also gave its first lead since the first half.
It was the last point the team would score as New York closed out with a nine-point streak. Courtney Vandersloot hit two free throws and then Petya Laney added a three-pointer that made it 85-81.
Kayla Thornton followed with a runner in the lane with 40.4 seconds remaining. Sun missed eight consecutive shots over the last 3 1/2 minutes.
Carrington gave the Sun a chance to even be in the game, scoring 17 of their points in the second half.
The game was a homecoming for Jones, who played six seasons in Connecticut before being traded to New York in the off-season. Jones won the WNBA MVP title in 2021 and helped The Sun reach the Finals twice, including last year.
The Sun played a video tribute to Jones a few minutes before the tip-off and got a standing ovation from the audience.
Jones got New York’s first basket in a fast-paced first quarter that saw Connecticut lead 29-28 at the end of it. The back and forth play continued in the second quarter as neither team could gain a significant advantage. New York scored the final eight points of the half to go up 47-43 at the break.