Liberty's Jonquel Jones out at least 1 month with right ankle sprain

Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News on Jun 21, 2025

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NEW YORK — Jonquel Jones avoided a long-term injury diagnosis, but the Liberty will still be without her for at least a month.

The team confirmed that Saturday after announcing the star suffered a right ankle sprain in the second quarter of Thursday’s loss to the Phoenix Mercury. The team expects Jones to return to action in 4-6 weeks.

Jones, who previously missed two games due to an injury to the same ankle, is now projected to miss at least nine more. A return after six weeks projects her to miss 15 games with a target date to suit up against the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 3 — about five weeks before the start of the postseason.

Jones sustained the injury after landing on Mercury guard Sami Whitcomb’s foot on a shot attempt at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter on Thursday. Jones fell to the floor in pain before being helped up and later limped to the locker room.

The big exited Barclays Center that night in a walking boot and stayed in New York Friday to undergo further imaging and evaluation while the team traveled to Seattle to begin a four-game road trip.

Jones’ initial injury to the right ankle this season happened in a June 5 matchup against the Washington Mystics. Nyara Sabally started in place of Jones in the following two games the star missed.

Expect Sabally to re-enter the starting lineup once again in Jones’ absence.

The Liberty now are fortunate Sabally decided to skip this year’s Eurobasket. The team expected for both Leonie Fiebich and Sabally to represent the German National Team this summer, but Sabally decided to stay in New York, citing the need to prioritize proper rehabilitation of her knee.

Sabally missed six of the Liberty’s first eight games of the season due to the knee injury. The busy WNBA schedule coinciding with Eurobasket play may not have been a proper workload for the German’s knee.

Sabally — along with reserve Isabelle Harrison — will now work to replace Jones’ 12.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

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