New York Liberty sneak out another win to keep their playoff hopes alive ....
As the regular WNBA season is coming to a close, the New York Liberty have found themselves in must win situations more often than not, in a bid to keep their playoff hopes alive. On Wednesday, they encountered one such situation
and rallied back in the second half to defeat the last placed Washington Mystics 75-62 at the Prudential Center.
Cappie Pondexter led the charge for New York with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists while Nicole Powell contributed with 15 points.
“It was an ugly win, but I'm glad we pulled it out in the fourth quarter,'' Pondexter said after the game; "We focused a little more, we began to help each other. I thought we rebounded well, forced them to make tough jump shots.”
Kia Vaughn notched up a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 10 rebounds, with 8 of those points coming during critical stages of the fourth quarter, which got her due credit from Pondexter.
“I thought she played great down the stretch, she was confident,'' Pondexter said. ``The last two games we actually were talking about that baseline jumper, where she's great at. She focused in on doing it ... especially in the
fourth quarter. I'm happy she was finally able to display the kind of basketball she's been trying.”
On the other hand the dismal run continued for Washington, who have now lost their last nine consecutive outing. Monique Currie recorded a season high performance of 24 points in the losing effort.
New York came out of the blocks early as the held a 9-3 advantage. But a 4-0 burst saw Washington make their way back. A Noelle Quinn triple then took Washington to 14-17 as the first quarter came to a close.
The second quarter was intense with both sides not looking to give up anything and the first half came to a close at 37-34. A 6-2 burst to start the second half saw Washington take the lead for the first time. However, New York
were not going out that easy and closed out the third period with a 7-2 spurt to take a one point lead into the final quarter.
The start of the final quarter saw New York put together a 4-0 run. However it wasn’t until the final minutes when they were finally able to put the game to bed. A 6-0 run to close out the game helped them to a 75-62 victory as
they moved ahead of Chicago Sky for the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
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