The Weekly Roundup: Jazmine Jones Flips the Script (and Herself)
Examining the season’s biggest comeback and unveiling the three best performances of the week
I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend filled with gatherings of friends and family, delicious food, fireworks, and watching a person eat 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes (ok, maybe not that last one)! Speaking of fireworks, the Las Vegas Aces dropped 118 points on the Atlanta Dream, the second-highest point total in a non-overtime game. The NIL (name, image, and likeness) era of college sports is officially underway. But this week’s roundup kicks off with the game of the week, which featured the WNBA’s biggest comeback since 2019.
Game of the Week: Liberty Complete Epic Comeback
The Washington Mystics throttled the New York Liberty 101-72 in their match-up on May 21. With 8:49 left in the third quarter of Saturday’s rematch, Washington held a commanding 55-35 advantage. Therefore, the Mystics had outscored the Liberty by 49 points in just over 61 minutes of play. Yet, New York staged an improbable comeback in the remaining 19 minutes of Saturday’s contest and pulled out an 82-79 victory at the Barclays Center. What changed?
It certainly wasn’t Tina Charles. Despite throwing multiple defenders at Charles, New York had few answers defensively for the league’s leading scorer. The 2012 MVP followed up her 34-point, nine-rebound effort on May 21 with a 31-point, 16-rebound, four-assist, three-steal masterpiece.
Mystics coach Mike Thibault pointed to a couple of factors in Washington’s postgame press conference. “They upped their pressure… the shots we made early in the game; we didn’t make any of those in the second half… When they upped their energy at the start of the second half, we didn’t match it,” Thibault explained. “I mean, if some of those threes that we took go in like they were in the first half, then the whole game looks better.”
Shooting percentages by half from Saturday’s game provide a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde narrative that validates Thibault’s comments. The Liberty shot an anemic 12-for-36 from the field in the first half, and then drilled a blistering 17-for-28 (61%) of their second-half field goals. Meanwhile, Washington nailed 22 of its 40 first-half field goals (55%) and followed that up with an underwhelming 10-for-35 (29%) performance in the second half. A microcosm of their second-half shooting woes, the Mystics missed all five of their free throws in the final three minutes and failed to convert either of two open looks for a go-ahead three with under 10 seconds remaining.
How about the increased energy Thibault referenced? No one epitomized New York’s surge in second-half energy more than Jazmine Jones. The second-year guard flew head-over-heels into the stands in an attempt to save an offensive rebound. She followed that up by scoring 12 points in the final 11:46. Her combination of attacking the rim with reckless abandon and knocking down two of her three triples led to a 17-point, 5-rebound stat line in 21 minutes.
Saturday felt reminiscent of the New York squad that started the season 5-1. The Liberty posted just its second 100+ offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) in the past 12 games. Sabrina Ionescu appears close to full form after suffering an ankle injury last month. After shooting a combined 14-62 (23%) in her past nine games, Ionescu drained six of seven field goals on Saturday, including three out of four from distance. Her ability to create off the pick-and-roll remains top-notch, as evidenced by her pass to Reshanda Gray (11 points, six boards) for the go-ahead bucket late in the fourth quarter. WNBA All-Star Betnijah Laney (19 points), currently fifth in the league at 19.7 points per game, has positioned herself as one of the most dependable scorers in the W. Maybe it’s just one good game. Rather, one good half. But tack on sharpshooter Sami Whitcomb and a returning Natasha Howard, and you end up with a team few opponents will relish seeing in the playoffs.
Three Stars of the Week
What do this week’s Three Stars have in common? They all have ties to the Connecticut Sun. They’re all playing in the WNBA All-Star game next Wednesday. And regrettably, none of them are on my WNBA fantasy basketball team. Despite thwarting my dreams of WNBA fantasy basketball glory, I harbor no ill will and present the three best single-game performances of the past week.
Third Star: Jonquel Jones - 23 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals at Washington on 6/29
Heading into last Tuesday’s match-up versus Washington, Jonquel Jones had not played a minute of WNBA basketball in over three weeks. She represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at EuroBasket during that time. After fulfilling that commitment, she took a transatlantic flight back to the United States on June 27, passed multiple COVID tests, and took the court on June 29 against the Mystics. An ordinary player might have suffered from jetlag, appeared a tad rusty, and taken a game or two to reacclimate.
If there’s one takeaway so far this season, it’s that Jonquel Jones is far from ordinary. She dominated at EuroBasket during that period, (24.3 points and 16.8 rebounds per game), leading Bosnia and Herzegovina to a fifth-place finish and the country’s first bid to the FIBA World Cup. So, it was little wonder that the frontrunner for league MVP posted her eighth double-double this season (tied for the WNBA lead) in her return. Only Breanna Stewart has recorded a better combination of points, rebounds, assists, and steals in league history.
Second Star: Tina Charles - 31 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks at New York on 7/3
I shudder to think where the Washington Mystics would be without Tina Charles this season. Despite missing Elena Delle Donne, Alysha Clark, Emma Meesseman, Myisha Hines-Allen for over half the season, and Natasha Cloud for nearly a third of the season, the Mystics are on the cusp of playoff contention. Astounding. It’s largely due to Tina Charles. Her 25.8 points per game not only leads the W, but if Charles somehow maintains this level of production through the remainder of the season, she would set a new WNBA record.
Granted, she missed three key free throws and committed an offensive foul down the stretch of Washington’s 82-79 loss against New York. However, that ignores her first 37 minutes of play, where Charles feasted on the Liberty’s frontcourt despite frequent double teams. Also, she posted her fifth career 30-point, 15-rebound stat line, the most in league history! She’s accomplished the feat on three occasions in this season alone. How many times since 2019 has the rest of the league done this? Zero.
First Star: Brionna Jones - 34 points (14-19 FG), 7 rebounds, 3 steals at Indiana on 7/1
On the heels of being chosen for her first WNBA All-Star roster, Brionna Jones validated that selection with a career-high 34 points in Connecticut’s 86-80 win over Indiana Thursday night. In her four previous seasons in the W, Jones had never scored more than 20 points in a single game. She’s posted four such performances already this season. That includes Thursday night’s effort, where Jones recorded the second-highest field goal percentage of any 30-point performance this season (trailing only her teammate, Jonquel Jones).
WNBA schedule this week (All times Eastern)
Here is a full listing of this week’s games, start times, and where you can catch the action.
Adam’s Power Rankings
Check out the Her Hoop Stats Twitter page (@herhoopstats) today for our latest power rankings! Based on the criterion of who would win if teams played today on a neutral court, here is my contribution to those rankings:
Her Hoop Stats content in case you missed it
Her Hoop Stats released the following podcast content last week:
Who is the best team in the WNBA? Gabe Ibrahim and Christy Winters-Scott discussed the league’s top tier in the latest episode of Courtside.
Following the league’s announcement of the rosters for next week’s All-Star game, Megan Gauer, Richard Cohen, and Kevin Pelton provided their all-star picks on Unplugged.
Calvin Wetzel investigated the proliferation of the three-point shot in the WNBA at the league, team, and individual levels.
In WNBA Dissected, Richard Cohen recapped Spain’s underwhelming performance at EuroBasket and the slew of WNBA roster cuts that occurred ahead of the league’s midseason point (when contracts become guaranteed).
Currently ranked fourth in the world, Team Canada could deliver the country its first Olympic basketball medal in 85 years. Aneela Khan wrote about the makeup of the team’s roster.
Other recommended content
In a two-month investigation of the Syracuse women’s basketball program for The Athletic, Chantel Jennings and Dana O’Neil revealed the toxic atmosphere under coach Quentin Hillsman that has led to several recent player departures.
It started in September 2019 when California passed its “Fair Pay to Play” legislation, which would allow college athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). While California’s law doesn’t take effect until 2023, 23 other states subsequently passed NIL bills, several of which took effect last Thursday. Rather than sue these states in court, the NCAA capitulated last Wednesday when the Division I Board of Directors voted to allow athletes countrywide to profit off of their names, images, and likenesses. Here are a few articles that have chronicled the nascent NIL era.
Which states have already enacted NIL legislation? What are the restrictions for how athletes can financially benefit? For frequently asked questions like these and more, check out The Athletic as well as Dan Murphy’s column for ESPN.
For SI.com, Ross Dellenger wrote about how Fresno State’s Haley and Hanna Cavinder inked one of the first NIL deals.
For The UConn Blog, Dan Madigan explored Paige Bueckers’ earning potential.
For Just Women’s Sports, Hannah Withiam spoke with Amanda Zahui B. and Candice Dupree about the evolution of LGBTQ+ advocacy in the WNBA as well as the recent influx of anti-transgender legislation.
Women’s professional basketball trivia question of the week
I will post the answer to last week’s question on Twitter @herhoopstats. I’m keeping it pretty simple this week with just one question. One question that stands between you and trivia immortality. And by trivial immortality, I mean a shoutout from Her Hoop Stats on Twitter, which is still pretty cool. Good luck!
Who was the last player not drafted first or second overall to win the WNBA MVP?
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