Jonquel Jones, Liberty Earn Revenge vs. Wings
BROOKLYN—Clipping the Dallas Wings proved to be the sweetest revenge for the New York Liberty.
Jonquel Jones put up a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double while Emma Meesseman had 13 points in her Brooklyn debut, as the Liberty avenged a one-sided loss in Arlington with an 85-76 triumph on Tuesday at Barclays Center.
Having previously dropped a 92-82 decision in North Texas in a game that was hardly as close as its final tally indicated, the shorthanded Liberty (19-10) earned back-to-back wins combined with Sunday's win in Connecticut. New York is also 2-0 in the Meesseman era, as the touted free agent once again appeared in the starting five with Breanna Stewart (leg) still sitting alongside the also-ailing Kennedy Burke (calf) and Nyara Sabally (knee).
On a night where Sabrina Ionescu (9 points, 5 rebounds) was held in check, depth stars picked up the slack for the Liberty: Meesseman made a swift first impression on her new adoring public while fellow newcomer Stephanie Talbot came off the bench to score 13 on 4-of-6 from the field. It was Talbot's finest hour as a New Yorker to date, as she was a team-best plus-8 in just under 24 minutes of action.
Dallas (8-22) was paced by 21 points from Paige Bueckers, who was able to finish the game despite briefly leaving for the locker room after apparently tweaking her back.
Bueckers, the top pick in the most recent WNBA Draft, scored 21 points, giving her 24 consecutive games in double-figures to start her WNBA career. That's behind only A'ja Wilson (33), Candace Parker (32), and Cynthia Cooper (28) for the longest such single-season streak in WNBA history. Last week's heroine Arike Ogunbowale was contained at 3-of-12 from the field while New York native Maddy Siegrist had 13 off the bench on 6-of-9.
The Liberty will face the Wings one last time on Friday night when they return to the scene of the prior crime at College Park Center (7:30 p.m. ET, Ion). It'll be the final meeting of the regular season between New York and Dallas.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.