Liberty win ninth straight, beat Stars 81-69

NEW YORK -- Tina Charles and Epiphanny Prince scored 16 points apiece and the New York Liberty pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat San Antonio 81-69 on Friday night and win their ninth straight game.

New York (21-12) entered the night having clinched a first-round postseason bye and is a half-game behind Connecticut for the third seed. The Sun played at Phoenix later Friday night. The Liberty, who have not lost since Aug. 4, conclude their regular season against the Dallas Wings on Sunday with a shot of matching the franchise record for consecutive victories.

Kia Vaughn and Shavonte Zellous added 10 points each for New York.

Kelsey Plum scored 18 points and Kayla Alexander had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead San Antonio (7-26).

The Stars' Sydney Colson converted a three-point play to open the fourth quarter and San Antonio pulled to 65-63. The Liberty answered with a 12-2 run and cruised from there. Prince scored four points and Kiah Stokes added four of her six points during the stretch. Colson finished with seven points.