New York Liberty snap out of a 5 game losing streak after handing over an 87-72 defeat to Indiana Fever - WNBA Recap
New York Liberty were on a 5 game losing streak heading into the Sunday night game against Indiana Fever.
This was their longest winless streak in the franchise history, and determined to wash off the stigma, 5 New Yorkers scored in double figures to orchestrate a 87-72 win over Fever here at Prudential Center.
Cappie Pondexter marshalled all players with 25 points and 5 rebounds. She was a relieved woman after the win;
`I knew we weren't going to lose,'' Pondexter said. ``We made a lot of mistakes in our previous five games, where we knew we had the game and then lost it down the stretch. ... But today we stuck together. I think that's a real positive. ... I think any (opposing) team would have lost tonight.''
Forwards Essence Carson and Plenette Pierson poured in 16 points each while Leilani Mitchell and Kia Vaughn scored 13 and 10 points respectively for New York.
New York were 44.3% from the field and were 47% from beyond the arc; they dished out 20 assists and made 12 steals to compile their best performance of the season so far.
New York coach John Whisenant was all praise for his team. His team had lost the previous 5 games by an average of 17.4 points and was relieved with a blowout win over a strong team;
“We got back to what gives us a chance to compete with anybody in the league, and that is our defence,'' New York coach said. ``Everyone learned from last night. ... We had even distribution of our scoring. When we play defence harder, our offense is better”.
Tamika Catchings scored a team high 19 points for Fever while Katie Douglas netted 15 in Indiana’s 1st loss of this season. Reserve Briann January and Guard Shavonte Zellous came up with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Liberty claimed an early 17-11 lead in the opening frame and went on to cap off the frame with a double-digit 24-14 lead.
Midway into the 2nd period Indiana managed to trim down the lead to 33-27 but Liberty rebuilt their advantage to 50-37 with the help of a 17-10 burst. Fever trailed by 53-42 at the end of 1st half.
New York maintained their double-digit lead throughout the third. Nearly midway through the quarter, Pondexter netted one from downtown to initiate a 10-6 run for Liberty, who raced to a 69-54 advantage.
Fever tried to harness the lead in the conclusive stanza with a 16-8 run, but liberty banked the game with a decisive 10-2 spurt.
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