By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN pro Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the New York Liberty have emerged as frontrunners for the chip during the first half of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and have picked up right where they left off post All-Star break.

While other teams in the Association are jockeying for playoff spots, the Libs were the first team to clinch their playoff berth with Saturday’s 79-67 victory against the Las Vegas Aces at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Eastern Conference leaders kept on rolling against the defending champions to continue the next chapter of their WNBA rivalry, book their fourth straight ticket to the playoffs and improve to a league’s best 23-4 win/loss record.

The former WNBA MVP Jones posted a double-double of 10 points and 17 rebounds. She was just three assists shy of a triple double with seven dimes in the game. The 30-year-old was just one of four Libs to score in double digits.

Three-point specialist Sabrina Ionsecu poured in a team-high 23 points to pair with six rebounds and three assists. And reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart got in on the scoring action with 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

Last year’s WNBA Finals runners-up came into Saturday’s game riding a five-game winning streak and with the goal of beating the defending champions for the second time this season on the road. The Libs trailed for a majority of the first quarter against the Aces. The latter pulled away 20-13, following a three-point stepback shot drained by Kelsey Plum. Despite the hometown cooking from the Aces to start the game, the Big Apple team only trailed by 4 (28-24) going into the second period.

The Grand Bahama native got to the line and knocked down a freethrow to give her team a slim 30-28 lead with less than 9 minutes to go in the second quarter. The Libs made up ground and after being outscored by 4 points in the first period, they held the Aces to 8 points in the second quarter to create a 42-36 advantage at the halftime break.

Jones scored her eighth point of the contest early in the third. She made a layup off an Ionescu assist to keep New York ahead 44-40.

The 2023 WNBA champions continued to hang around on the scoreboard but hit a dry spell during the last 2:04 in the third quarter which kept the NYC Liberty in the driver’s seat 59-51.

With the ball game hanging in the balance, the Liberty pushed the score into double-digit territory. Kayla Thornton got a timely pass from Jones for a big bucket from long range which changed the score to 75-63 with under 5 minutes of play remaining. The Eastern Conference’s top team went up by as much as 16 in the fourth quarter leaving the Aces in the rearview while picking up their sixth straight win.

A’ja Wilson, 2023 WNBA Finals MVP, pumped in a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

The Libs crashed the board 46 times to out rebound the Aces by 16. New York got great production from their starting five. They shot 45 per cent on field goals while the Aces shot 39.2 per cent.

For New York it was their second consecutive victory since returning from the WNBA All-Star break. They defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 103-68 on Thursday at the Crypto.com Arena. The Grand Bahamian big put together 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 dimes in that game.

While other teams in the WNBA are jockey preparing to make a playoff push, the Libs seem to be in a league of their own.

Jones will be back in action on Tuesday night at 7pm in the Barclays Center against the Dallas Wings.