Mohegan — The comeback for Brionna Jones started way back on May 14, opening day against the Indiana Fever, the official box score registering eight points, three rebounds and three steals.

Jones suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon on June 20, 2023, in Seattle and underwent season-ending surgery after just 13 games of what promised to be an All-Star season. She came back later in the year to cheers at Mohegan Sun Arena, making her entrance on a scooter, embraced by her teammates.

This season she’s averaged 13.1 points and 5.2 rebounds, shooting 51.7% for the Sun (24-8), earning the third WNBA All-Star nod of her career.

And yet it was Sunday at Mohegan, with Jones leaving the interview room and Sun head coach Stephanie White on her way in, when the two passed each other in the tunnel.

“I just told her ‘welcome back’ when I saw her in the hallway,” White said. “You know, she’s struggled a little bit over the last four or five games.

“It was nice to see her out there with a little bit of bounce and finishing around the rim, getting good looks. And it’s tough when you’re a post player in this league, especially when you’re someone like Breezy — the physicality, you have to be physical on defense and then the physicality against you when you’re on the offensive end of the floor.”

Jones, a 6-foot-3 forward, finished with a season-high 26 points, six rebounds, two blocks and an assist in Sunday’s 93-86 victory over the Seattle Storm at a sold-out Mohegan Sun. The Sun (24-8) scored a dominant 56 points in the paint against the Storm, also a season high.

It was the highest scoring total for Jones since before her injury, and it included a personal eight-point run with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, during which time her teammates couldn’t get her the ball fast enough.

The teams are scheduled to meet again at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Mohegan Sun (NBC Sports Boston).

“For me, coming back from the injury has been a lot of ups and downs,” Jones said. “Some days I feel great. Some days I feel a little sore and worn down and things like that. It’s just continuing to do the rehab and do the recovery and everything I need to do to feel my best.

“I still don’t completely feel 100%, but there’s still time. We’re going into the playoffs, and that’s the right time to peak.”

Jones served as the director of player personnel for the Maryland women’s basketball team during the offseason, learning a different side to basketball under head coach Brenda Frese, as well as taking her mind off the arduous rehab process.

Jones is a 2017 Maryland graduate who played in back-to-back Final Fours for the Terps under Frese in 2014 and 2015. She finished her career there with 1,928 points, 1,209 rebounds and a Big Ten record in field-goal percentage at .650.

She was the eighth overall pick by the Sun in the 2017 WNBA Draft. She re-signed with Connecticut in February of this year, inking a one-year contract.

“It was great,” Jones said earlier this season of the lure of coaching for the Terps, “especially to be on the other side of things, not just as a player but as a coach. To see all the work (Frese) is putting in behind the scenes and everything it takes to run a team the way she does, ... I learned a lot.

“I think it’s going to help me as a player, as well, so I can bring those things that I was watching, bringing that to the (Sun) and building on my leadership role.”

Jones said the rehab took a different mindset, taking pride in the little things.

“Every day for me, it was finding those wins, ‘I’m walking, I’m lifting more.’ I feel like it’s just those little things,” Jones said. “Those little wins kept me motivated to be able to push myself.”

Jones majored in premed and kinesiology at Maryland, with the intention of going to medical school for a career in pediatrics. She learned by the time she was a junior, however, that perhaps her future was in basketball for now.

She scored her 2,000th career point this season during a Sun victory against the Los Angeles Sparks at TD Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. She has finished in double figures in 11 of her past 12 games and has grabbed three or more steals six times.

Her field-goal percentage ranks seventh in the WNBA, and her points in the paint (8.7 per game) is 12th.

“She is huge for us,” White said. “Not just those numbers right there (on the score sheet) but we keep 50-50 balls and hustle stats. She had six 50-50 balls (Sunday) and she did the same thing in Washington (Saturday). I was so proud that she was able to get it going offensively.”

The Storm (19-13) are led by All-Star guard and Olympian Jewell Loyd, who had 27 points Sunday and is currently fourth in the WNBA in scoring with 20.6 points per game. Nneka Ogwumike added 20 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday’s game.

v.fulkerson@theday.com