Jonquel Jones' Return Guides Liberty Past Mystics
Back in action on Friday night after a one-game absence, Dr. Jones had the perfect prescription to any New York Liberty woes stemming from a close call on Thursday.
Jonquel Jones' double-double and a strong shooting effort from Sabrina Ionescu helped the Liberty stay perfect, as they handled business against the Washington Mystics by an 85-63 final at CareFirst Arena. The win came just over 24 hours after eking out a narrow triumph over the Golden State Valkyries at home.
Keeping the Liberty (6-0) perfect on the ledgers of their first postseason championship defense, Jones was tied with Leonie Fiebich as a game-best plus-23 while pulling in 18 rebounds and scoring 14 points. Sabrina Ionescu led New York scorers with 28 points and moved to within six three-pointers of breaking Crystal Robinson's franchise record for most three pointers (currently at 395).
Jones, having missed Thursday's win due to hamstring issues, was back in the Washington D.C. area for the first time since earning an honorary doctorate degree from her alma mater of George Washington University, where she also gave the Class of 2025's commencement speech. Friday was also a homecoming for Natasha Cloud, who was previously a part of the Mystics' championship group from 2019.
An early onslaught from Fiebich, scorer of eight of the first 13 Liberty tallies, set the early tone capped off by Kennedy Burke's buzzer-beating triple that created a 10-point lead at the end of the first. An offensively-challenged second kept the lead at 12 but an instant run of seven in a row for Washington narrowed the gap to five within the first 90 seconds of the latter half but that's when Jones made the game her own.
Between eight tallies of her own, two assists, and possessions created through six rebounds, Jones played a role for all but six of the 22 Liberty points in the third quarter, including eight in a row in an unanswered run that gave the visitors a permanent double-figure lead.
The last three of those tallies were earned on a three off a feed from Breanna Stewart, who tied her Liberty career-best with seven assists. The run eventually extended to 16 straight and Washington never got any closer than 13 the rest of the way, allowing the Liberty to become the 14th team in WNBA history to tip off a season with six consecutive wins and for the first time since their inaugural campaign in 1997.
Despite a spirited first half, the Mystics (3-4) dropped their fourth in five games after a 2-0 start. Brittney Sykes scored 20 points but the Liberty kept her in check with a 5-of-18 shooting performance, her tally mostly built with nine free throws. Rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen also reached double-figures to rep the WNBA's youngest team, as did Rebekah Gardner, who paced Liberty reserves with 11 tallies.
Washington won't have to wait long for another shot at New York, which returns to the nation's capital on Thursday. In the meantime, the Liberty will be back at home on Sunday, which will see them open Commissioner's Cup pool play against the Connecticut Sun (3 p.m. ET, WWOR).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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.