Washington – Jonquel Jones became just the second player in WNBA history to have three 20 rebound games in a season as the Connecticut Sun defeated the Washington Mystics 86-76 on Tuesday at Capital One Arena.
With the win, the Sun (21-11) secure a top-4 seed heading into the WNBA Playoffs and will host a second round game on September 10th at Mohegan Sun Arena. Time and opponent are to be determined though the final week of regular season play.
Jones, who had 22 rebounds in the game, a new career-high, joins Tina Charles as the only players to have three 20 rebound performances in a season. Jones now has 384 rebounds on the season, trailing the WNBA mark of 398 by 14 with three games to play. That record was set by Charles as a rookie with Connecticut in 2010. Jones passed Syliva Fowles (369) and Charles (374) tonight to move into second place all-time.
The center also had 14 points to wrap up her 19th double-double of the season and a career-high six assists in the win. Also leading the way for Connecticut was forward Alyssa Thomas, who had a career-high 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Guard Jasmine Thomas had 20 points while Shekinna Stricken continued her hot shooting, going 4-of-8 from behind the arc en route to 12 points.
Leading by just two at halftime, Connecticut increased its advantage to 10 points with 40 seconds remaining in the third and led by as many as 16 with just over six minutes remaining in regulation. The Mystics (17-15) chipped away at that lead over the next five minutes, trailing by just four with 1:15 left to play. A long jumper from Jasmine Thomas and four free throws from the guard in the closing minutes, along with two big rebounds from Stricken, iced the victory for the Sun.
Elena Delle Donne led Washington with 24 points and 16 rebounds while Krystal Thomas had seven points and 14 boards. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 14 points off the bench for the Mystics.
The Sun will return to action on Friday, September 1st when it travels to Phoenix to take on the Mercury. Game time is set for 10 p.m. ET and can be watched live on Twitter.