NBA
Jonquel Jones, WNBA All-Stars Best Liberty Stars, Team USA
Jonquel Jones got the last laugh in a New York Liberty civil war on Saturday night.
Jones capped off an eventful weekend at the WNBA All-Star Game with a win, as a squad of WNBA All-Stars took down the United States’ women’s national team by a 117-109 final in the main event at Footprint Center in Phoenix. It’s the first and last domestic tune-up for Team USA, which will go for another gold medal at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris.
Fresh off a runner-up finish in Friday’s 3-Point Contest, Jones had six points, five assists, and seven rebounds, which led all Team WNBA starters. Jones’ fellow New Yorker Breanna Stewart was the leading scorer in a losing effort for Team USA, scoring 31 points, while Sabrina Ionescu had five points and three assists and rebounds each.
Stewart’s scoring would’ve tied the WNBA All-Star Game record set by Team USA teammate Jewell Loyd (Seattle) during last year’s game in Las Vegas. But Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas) stole the show and then some, as all 34 of her points came in the second half. Twenty-one in the third quarter erased a slim lead Team USA held at halftime before she closed the door with 13 more to close things out.
That made Ogunbowale, who previously had 26 in a similar format in 2021, an obvious choice for the game’s MVP Award. Ogunbowale also dished out six assists.
Elsewhere on the Team WNBA box score, touted rookies lived up to their respective billings: Angel Reese (Chicago) posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double while Caitlin Clark (Indiana) set a rookie record with 10 assists, one short of the record 11 Sue Bird had in 2017.
Despite the defeat, Stewart did set a Liberty record for most points in a single All-Star Game, surpassing the prior mark of 19 shared by Ionescu (2022) and Tina Charles (2014).
Team USA has just over a week to get over the loss: it’ll face future Olympic group opponent Germany (featuring Liberty teammates Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally) in a London-based exhibition on Tuesday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, FS1) before the Paris Games tip off against Japan on July 29.
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