Cappie Pondexter shines as New York Liberty topple Connecticut Sun 84-81 in O.T. – WNBA Recap: Pt 2
New York Liberty shot 41.7 percent (35 for 84) from the field and 66.7 percent (8 for 12) from the line. Connecticut Sun, on the other hand, shot just 35.4 percent (29 for 82) from the field and 77.8 percent (14 for 18) from free
throw line. Sun committed 15 turnovers while Liberty committed 12. New York outscored the visiting team 40-28 in points in the paint.
Both the teams gave it their all on the night, with Sun rallying late in the fourth quarter and forcing the game into overtime.
Liberty made a solid start to the game, scoring the first five points of the period and taking a 20-17 lead into the second. Connecticut outplayed New York in the second quarter, outscoring them 23-19 and taking a 40-39 lead at
the break.
Leading by one-point at halftime, the Sun stretched their lead to seven points, 52-45, with 06:14 to go in the third quarter. Vaughn then drove to rim and trimmed Connecticut’s lead to five, 52-47. Sun went on a 15-5 run in the
last five minutes and 45 seconds of the third period and carried a 67-52 lead into the fourth quarter, with things looking good for the team in the red-and-white.
“The way things were going over the first three quarters, we were in good shape,” said Tina Charles, the top scorer of the show. “But a lot of times we have a big lead, we let it get away. We cannot do that. It is definitely tough
to lose this way, both physically and mentally.”
All of a sudden, things came tumbling down.
Connecticut held a 71-62 lead with 04:33 to go in the tightly contested last quarter. New York turned it on and scored 12 consecutive points to take a three-point lead, 74-71, with just 50 ticks to go in the game. Kara Lawson however
hit a three-pointer with 38 seconds remaining to tie the game at 74. In the final seconds, both teams had an opportunity to win the game, but Leilani Mitchell and Charles missed 3-pointers, sending the game to an extra 5 minutes.
New York scored early in overtime, with Cappie Pondexter hitting a jumper to push their lead to 80-76. Renee Montgomery’s three-pointer and Greene’s lay-up with 01:35 left however put Connecticut ahead by one, 81-80. Pondexter
responded and hit a go a go-ahead jumper, giving the Liberty an 82-81 lead.
New York’s forward Essence Carson then made two free throws in the last second of the O.T. to seal the victory.
New York will (15-11) play again on Saturday when they make the short flight to Seattle to take on the Seattle Storm while Connecticut (16-9) will remain at home to host the Atlanta Dream on Friday night.
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