Sun lose Jones (lower leg injury) for tonight’s game at Minnesota
The Connecticut Sun have won the first two games of a three-game road trip, but will have to complete the trip without starting forward Brionna Jones.
Jones, the 2022 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year, suffered an injury to her lower right leg with just under a minute remaining in Tuesday night's 85-79 victory over the Seattle Storm and won't play in tonight's game against the Minnesota Lynx in at the Target Center in Minneapolis (8 p.m., NBCSB, CBSSN).
Jones, Connecticut's top pick (No. 8 overall) in the 2017 draft out of Maryland, was seen clutching the back of her right ankle in the area of her Achilles after she dropped to the floor in what appeared to be a non-contact injury. She put no weight on her right leg as she was helped off the floor.
Jones, who is averaging 15.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists through the first 13 games, had 13 points and four rebounds on Tuesday night before her late exit.
The Sun (10-3) listed her on Wednesday's injury report as “out” with a “lower leg injury” and had no further comment or update.
The injury took the edge off of what was another impressive night by Connecticut as DeWanna Bonner scored 20 points to move into 10th on the WNBA scoring list and Alyssa Thomas secured her fifth career triple-double.
Thomas tied Candace Parker and
Sabrina Ionescu for the most career regular-season triple-doubles with three. Thomas scored with 1:26 left in the third quarter to reach the mark, before finishing with 13 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. Thomas also had three steals.
Bonner passed Sylvia Fowles to move into the top 10 in league history. She trails Katie Smith by 36 points for ninth.
All five starters for Connecticut (10-3) scored in double figures. Natisha Hiedeman had 17 points, Jones added 13 and Tiffany Hayes scored 12.
Jewell Loyd, who scored 39 points in a 109-103 victory over Dallas on Saturday, scored 33 points for Seattle (3-8). Ezi Magbegor had 13 points and 11 rebounds.