Stewart makes history as Liberty defeat Sun in Jonquel Jones’ return to Connecticut | CBC Sports
Breanna Stewart scored 24 points to become the the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 4.000 career points, Jonquel Jones added 14 points and 11 rebounds in her return to Connecticut and the New York Liberty beat the Sun 89-81 on Tuesday night.
Las Vegas has already wrapped up the Western Conference slot.
Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut (12-4) with 11 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for her fifth career triple-double. She’s now done it in consecutive games and three times in the last seven days. Thomas is the all-time record holder in the category. DiJonai Carrington scored a career-high 23 points to lead Connecticut.
4K Career POINTS ✨<br><br>The bucket that made <a href=”https://twitter.com/breannastewart?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@breannastewart</a> of the <a href=”https://twitter.com/nyliberty?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@nyliberty</a> the quickest player in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WNBA</a> history to reach this milestone <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MoreThanGame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#MoreThanGame</a> <a href=”https://t.co/FigPIezFAs”>pic.twitter.com/FigPIezFAs</a>
—@WNBA
New York (10-3) was up 80-68 with 6:26 left before Connecticut (12-4) scored 13 straight, the last of which came on a contested layup by Thomas with 3:39 left that was her 11th point and gave her the triple-double. It also gave the Sun their first lead since the first half.
Kayla Thornton followed with a runner in the lane with 40.4 seconds remaining. The Sun missed eight consecutive shots over the final 3 1/2 minutes.
Carrington gave the Sun a chance to even be in the game, scoring 17 of her points in the second half.
Jones homecoming
The game served as a homecoming for Jones, who played six season in Connecticut before getting traded to New York in the offseason. Jones won the WNBA MVP in 2021 and helped the Sun reach the finals twice, including last year.
The Sun played a tribute video to Jones a few minutes before tipoff and she got a warm ovation from the crowd.
Jones got the first basket for New York in a fast-paced first quarter that saw Connecticut lead 29-28 at the end of it. The back-and-forth action continued in the second quarter where neither team could get much of an edge. New York scored the final eight points of the half to go up 47-43 at the break.
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