By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahamian pro Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the New York Liberty are eyeing the franchise’s first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) championship and the road to completing that journey begins tonight in the Big Apple against regular season rivals Minnesota Lynx.

The league’s second seeded team were successful in making it to their seventh WNBA championship round after defeating the pesky Connecticut Sun 88-77 in game five of the WNBA semifinals on Tuesday night.

Earlier in the week, the Liberty took care of unfinished business against the two-time defending champions Las Vegas Aces, prevailing 76-62 in game four at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday.

With the defending champions now watching from home, the stage is now set for a new champion to hoist the WNBA title in the Lynx versus Liberty matchup.

Former MVP Jones spoke to reporters on Wednesday about how last year’s WNBA Finals loss to the Aces helped the team to be motivated and prepared for this season.

“Our team has had a year to really grow, understand each other and build our chemistry. Also, we have that bonding experience of making it to a  championship and falling short and then having that hunger to go out there and make our minds up in terms of how we approach the game that it wasn’t gonna happen again. 

“We still have a job to do. We are coming in against a really good Minnesota team that really plays great basketball and they challenge you in different ways and on different levels. We understand that it is gonna be a fight but collectively we have gone through a lot together and we have built and become way stronger so I think that has been the biggest difference,” she said.

In last year’s WNBA Finals, the Las Vegas Aces left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Liberty after they knocked off their long-time rivals 3-1 in the best-of-five series.

One year later, New York returned the favour except one round earlier in the WNBA semis, defeating the Aces 3-1 in the series. 

The Libs have only picked up one loss so far in this year’s WNBA postseason after opening their playoff campaign with a 2-0 sweep against the eighth-seeded Atlanta Dream.

New York has emerged as frontrunners for the WNBA chip and has had every team’s number so far except the Lynx this season. 

The WNBA finalists played four times during the regular season, including the Commissioner’s Cup championship game, and the Libs came up short    in three out of the four meetings.

Jones acknowledged that she has had some inconsistent performances against the Lynx but is looking to play more aggressively and smarter against their opponents.

“They do a really good job of congesting the paint, sending multiple people, fronting the post and kind of making you pass the ball over the top and having that help side defence be there. 

“I understand how important it is for me to play really well for us to win and I understand that a main point of emphasis for Minnesota is trying to get me out of the game and being able to use that to effect the game. 

“I am coming in really aggressively trying to play smart, not get into early foul trouble and trying to affect the boards because they are a smaller team and I think rebounding is one of the ways we can exploit them a little bit,” she said. 

The Grand Bahamian big will be suiting up for her fourth finals appearance tonight at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York. 

Despite making four trips to the final round, she has been unsuccessful in winning the hardware. She expressed that those experiences have made her more cognizant of the little things it takes to win games on the big stage.

“You have to take advantage of the opportunities when you are there because you just never know when they are gonna come. Small things like 50/50 balls, screening and rebounding those things matter and can be a difference maker in whether you win or lose that game and every win or loss is really important,” she said

Jones is averaging 13.5 points per game, 8.7 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game in the playoffs. She is shooting the ball 53.7 per cent from the field and 46:7 per cent from deep.

There will be a lot of firsts on the line for both the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup MVP and Liberty starting tonight.

The game begins at 8pm in the Barclays Centre.