Liberty go for 3rd in row at Stars
The New York Liberty has used an all-hands-on-deck approach of late and will carry that plan to the Alamo City to battle the hapless San Antonio Stars on Tuesday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
The Liberty head south after an 86-82 win at Chicago on Sunday that was the third of a five-game road trip for New York (12-10). The Liberty's reserves accounted for 42 points in the win and the team posted a season-high 25 assists, with nine different players recording at least one.
"We have a quality bench, they've been waiting to get some time, and everything clicked for them tonight," New York coach Bill Laimbeer said after the win.
Shavonte Zellous hit a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left to secure the win over Chicago on Sunday, which was New York's second straight and its fourth in its past five contests. Tina Charles roared back from a slow first half to finish with a team-high 15 points and 12 rebounds while Sugar Rodgers scored 14, Epiphanny Prince added 12 and Kiah Stokes and Zellous each added 10 points for the Liberty.
Down 24-20 after one quarter, the Liberty opened the second period with 10 unanswered points to grab the lead on the way to a 46-39 halftime advantage despite just five points from Charles. New York maintained a 72-66 edge after three quarters and never trailed in the fourth.
"We need to play our solid defense and not give opponents 3-ball looks," Laimbeer said. "We are winning and playing decent basketball and it's a grind for us. It's important that we keep grinding."
The Liberty have won six straight against San Antonio, including a 73-64 decision in the season opener on May 13.
San Antonio heads home after an 81-64 loss to Phoenix on Sunday. Shay Murphy came off the bench for a team- and season-high 14 points while Kayla McBride added 13 for the Stars, who never got closer than 14 points in the fourth quarter. Isabelle Harrison continued her solid play of late, scoring 10 points and grabbing 13 rebounds for the Stars.
Although the Stars had a plus-13 rebounding margin, they were chasing the Mercury most of the game because of poor shooting. They hit 22 of 65 shots from the field, 33.8 percent. San Antonio scored just 10 points in the third quarter, an output that was ultimately too much for the Stars (3-21) to overcome.
In the loss Sunday, the Stars were without point guard Moriah Jefferson because of a knee injury while Kelsey Plum scored just nine points and had five of San Antonio's 21 turnovers.
It was the Stars' third straight loss and fifth in six games; San Antonio had just six assists in the game, almost 11 less than it per game average.
"We're not going to beat anybody -- not even a YMCA team -- if we can't pass the ball," said Murphy, who had her best game as a member of the Stars after being traded from Phoenix in late June. "We have to get better at that."
San Antonio remains the only team in the league without wins in back-to-back games and owns the WNBA's lowest-scoring output at 73.7 points per game. Tuesday's game is the first of a three-game homestand for the Stars.
