UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP)—Forget the candles. Asjha Jones helped the Sun blow out the New York Liberty for her 26th birthday.
The reserve forward scored 22 points, tying her career high for the second straight game, and led the Sun to a 66-52 win over the New York Liberty.
“I’m 26 now, there’s no parties any more. We have games,” said Jones, the former UConn player and fan favorite at the Mohegan Sun Arena. “Today’s my birthday and I had to work. That’s the life of an adult.”
Margo Dydek and Taj McWilliams-Franklin each grabbed 10 rebounds for the Sun (22-6), which extended its winning streak to eight games, matching the longest in franchise history.
New York (7-21) saw its three-game winning streak snapped, but did have the services of Becky Hammon for the first time in 10 games. Hammon, sidelined with a sprained left ankle, played just over 11 minutes and finished with two points and pair of assists.
The Eastern Conference-leading Sun were without the franchise’s all-time leading scorer Nykesha Sales for the 11th straight game, but is 10-1 during that stretch, relying on its depth. Jones, especially, has been leading the way.
“I think I’ve been wide open for the most part and it’s been one-on-one in the post,” Jones said. “Any post player who gets time to dribble around in the post, they’re going to find the shot.”
The reserves scored 31 points Tuesday and 42 in Sunday’s 72-65 win over San Antonio. They’ve needed to since the Sun’s starters have sputtered in those games.
With a 2 1/2 -game lead over Detroit heading into Tuesday’s game, coach Mike Thibault has been trying to rest his starters. Their defense hasn’t suffered, but the layoff may be throwing off their offensive flow, he said.
“We don’t have anybody in the starting group having any offensive rhythm right now,” Thibault said. “Tomorrow’s a regular practice and hopefully we can get some kinks out on the offensive end. (Jones) has put us on her back offensively the last couple of games.”
Dydek and McWilliams-Franklin took turns dominating both ends of the glass. All of Dydek’s boards were on the defensive end, while McWilliams-Franklin had nine offensive boards. Dydek also had four blocked shots. The Sun outrebounded the Liberty 44-32 and outscored them 34-14 in the paint.
“We know that they’re one of the best rebounding teams. All of their guards are big and their post players are some of the best rebounders,” New York’s Loree Moore said. “At key moments, we didn’t make the box-outs that we needed.”
The Sun starters were holding a three-point lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter when help arrived. Jones and the reserves picked up the pace and ran off a 14-0 spurt over the next six minutes for a 31-14 lead. Jones had eight points in the burst and reserve wing Laura Summerton added four.
“We’re fresh and we’re coming in against the starters on the other team, so we’re going out there and we’re sprinting,” Jones said.
Hammon helped spark the Liberty in the closing minutes of the first half. She had a bucket and an assist in New York’s 6-0 run to close out the half, but the Liberty still trailed by double digits—31-20—at the break.
New York would get within four late in the third quarter when Cathrine Kraayeveld’s 3-pointer made it 43-39. But the Sun responded with a 17-6 run, fueled by three straight defensive rebounds from Dydek and a 3-pointer by Katie Douglas.
Moore led the Liberty with 16 points and Kraayeveld finished with 12.
“It felt good to be back out there,” Hammon said. “It’s just a shame that we didn’t step up and hit some more shots because, defensively, I thought we played well enough to win.”
