Jones, Stewart help New York prevail in Liberty’s final Uncasville contest

Connecticut’s Diamond Miller, left, and Brianna Stewart battle for a rebound in Sunday’s WNBA game in Uncasville. More game photos

UNCASVILLE, Conn., Aug. 15, 2026 – On Saturday night, the Connecticut Sun were officially eliminated from the WNBA playoffs with Washington beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

But that fact – the Sun missing the playoffs for the second straight year — has been a foregone conclusion for much of the WNBA season.

The 2026 Sun campaign has been one of bittersweet nostalgia with the team heading to Houston next season after being sold last spring.

Much of the season has been an opportunity to saw goodbye to the Sun and take one last chance to see former UConn and Sun stars visit the Mohegan Sun Arena.

UConn legend Brianna Stewart and former Sun Jonquel Jones, who won a WNBA MVP award in a Connecticut uniform in 2021, were in Uncasville on Saturday for an afternoon matinee and led the Liberty to their fifth straight win over Connecticut, 82-75 before a sellout crowd of 8,911.

Jones had a game-high 23 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while Stewart had 11 points in New York’s final trip to Uncasville to face the Sun. Marine Johannes had 17 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Sun cut the New York lead to one point with 7:05 remaining.

But the Liberty outscored the Sun, 15-4 to seize control of the contest.

As they have been much of the season, Connecticut was shorthanded. Brittney Griner was a late scratch with a knee injury while Aaliyah Edwards, who had 15 points in Thursday’s embarrassing 104-69 loss to Atlanta, was out with an ankle injury from that defeat.

Olivia Nelson Ododa had a career-high 21 points for the Sun (8-25) with a team-leading 10 rebounds while rookie Charlise Leger-Walker had 14 points and Diamond Miller added 12. Leila Lecan scored 10 points and had a team-high six assists.

The Sun were blown out by Atlanta on their home floor on Thursday, trailing by as many as 37 points – their highest deficit of the season.

Even without Griner and Edwards, the Sun played a bit more energy and poise. Connecticut had a 10-point lead in the first quarter and didn’t let the Liberty run away with the game.

Connecticut’s Saniya Rivers (22), left, looks to block a shot from New York’s Anneli Maley in Sunday’s WNBA game at the Mohegan Sun Arena. More game photos

A jump shot from Sanita Rivers with 7:04 left in the game cut the New York lead to one, 63-62. But Joannes hit a three-point shot just before the 30-second shot clock expired leaping off one leg. Less than 30 seconds later, Jones drove to the basket and the lead was quickly back to six.

Joannes drained another three-pointer along with Allen as the Liberty pulled away.

“It felt good to get a win tonight, to come into an atmosphere that can be tricky at times and sometimes hard to win in,” Jones said. “And I think we did a really good job of weathering their runs.”

Jones spent the first six seasons of her WNBA career here in Connecticut, helping the Sun reach two WNBA finals in 2019 and 2022. She was the league MVP in 2021, the season when Alyssa Thomas tore her Achilles tendon and played just three games.

She is sixth in Sun history in number of games played (196) and is fifth in points scored (2,657). The 6-foot-6 forward/center from George Washington is still first in team history in blocks (270) and third in rebounds (1,633).

“A lot of memories here of a lot of great people,” Jones said. “This is the place I started my career. I’m sad to see (the team) go but am excited to see what things will turn into (next year in Houston).”

Jones sank 9-of-16 shots from the floor and seven of her first 11 shots. She finished with three shots from three-point range.

Stewart had a rough afternoon with 11 points and hitting just 3 of 12 shots from the field.

She has played plenty of games at the Mohegan Sun Arena with UConn in college and with Seattle and New York in the WNBA.

“Anytime coming here knowing you’re getting support from Husky fans, that is really special,” she said. “It’s tough to see the team go but like JJ said, it’s exciting to see what is coming up. I like that we had a lot of (Liberty) fans (in the building) for us today. A lot of great memories and happy that the last one was a win.”

New York’s Brianna Stewart  (30) hits a jumper in Sunday’s win over Connecticut. More game photos

New York won the final five games against Connecticut in the series. For the seventh time this season, the Sun blew a double-digit lead. Connecticut has lost seven of their last eight games.

Early in the game, the Sun led by 10 points, 18-8. The Sun led 35-31 with 6:45 remaining in the first half after Nelson-Ododa scorer her 1,000 professional point.

But the Liberty closed out the half with a 15-2 run to take a 46-37 halftime lead. Jones had seven points in the run, including a three-pointer, while Stewart had four points and an assist. Former Sun forward Rebecca Allen drained a three-point shot in the run.

The Sun kept it close but New York pulled away late in the fourth quarter.

Another bonus of the tight ballgame was New York keeping Stewart and Jones on the floor into the final minutes of the contest.

The Sun return to action on Tuesday with their final trip to Boston’s TD Garden to face the Los Angeles Sparks at 7 p.m.

Four more games remain at the Mohegan Sun Arena against Chicago (Aug. 25), Golden State (Aug. 26), Minnesota (Sept. 20) and Toronto (Sept. 24). Each game begins at 7 p.m., except the Minnesota game that begins at 1 p.m.