New York Liberty defeat Atlanta Dream after some inspired play from Cappie Pondexter – WNBA Recap
Cappie Pondexter scored 26 points as the New York Liberty defeated the Atlanta Dream 79-74 here at the Prudential Center on Tuesday night.
Liberty started the season losing their first five games, and were not happy with the way they were playing. They have since won two games in a row, including the victory over Atlanta.
"Being 0-5, I never experienced that before anywhere in any part of my career. It was awful. I knew we had to turn things around” said Pondexter after the game.
Angel McCoughtry scored 21 points for Atlanta but her effort was not enough to prevent the defeat for Atlanta, who now drop to a 2-4 record this season.
Atlanta led 23-22 in the final seconds of the first quarter, but Pondexter nailed a three pointer with the game clock winding down to give Liberty a 25-23 lead going into the 2nd period.
The 2nd quarter was fought hard by both teams, with numerous lead exchanges taking place. New York trailed Atlanta 40-43 with 2:31 left in the half. But once again, the Liberty closed the quarter with a good run and
grabbed the lead going into half time.
New York scored 8 straight points, with the final four coming from Plenette Pierson. That gave Liberty a 48-43 lead going into halftime. Atlanta failed to score in the final 2:31 of the 1st half and missed their final
four field goal attempts of the 2nd quarter.
Atlanta however got back into the game early in the third period with 5 straight points. Dream took the lead for the first time in the 3rd quarter with the last field goal of the quarter, a jump shot by Aneika Henry
that put Atlanta up 62-61.
Both teams struggled to get points on the board in the early half of the final quarter, with New York holding on to a 67-66 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the game. But the Liberty scored 7 straight points sparked by a three
point play by Pondexter that sealed the victory for them. Atlanta tried to cut the deficit but New York held on for a 79-74 victory.
Leilani Mitchell had 18 points for New York, going 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Kia Vaughn had 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Pierson finished with 10 points. It was a team effort from the Liberty side. McCoughtry had 14 rebounds
to add to her team high 21 points. She was the star player for Atlanta in the game. Henry came off the bench to score 14 points and 6 rebounds, going 6 of 7 from the field. Sancho Lyttle finished with 12 points and 9 rebounds, although she was 6 of 18 from
the field.
New York shot 44.9% from the field and 38.9% from the distance. Atlanta could only manage 37.8% from the field and a dismal 2 of 12 shooting performance from beyond the arc, which made the difference in the end.
"It was a tough loss for us. We missed a lot of shots in the fourth quarter. Give the Liberty credit for playing hard. Our shots were there. They just didn't fall. I also thought they shot the ball better with Cappie and Mitchell,”
said Atlanta head coach Marynell Meadors.
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