Tina Charles sets a new WNBA double-double record; Connecticut Sun beat New York Liberty 69-63
Tina Charles etched the WNBA record books with yet another record on Sunday night as she recorded her 23rd double-double of the season, eclipsing her own record of 22; she had set in the previous season.
She finished the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds as Connecticut Sun clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference in the regular-season finale with a 69-63 win over New York Liberty at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The victory gave Connecticut a home court advantage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, which begin this week. The Sun will take on the conference-defending champion Atlanta Dream, which clinched the third seed in the East
after beating Indiana Fever on the same day. New York, on the other hand, will play Indiana in the conference quarterfinals.
Charles has had a breakout season in only her second year in the league. She is averaging 17.6 points and a WNBA-high 11.0 rebounds per game. She played 33 games during the regular season, scoring 582 points and pulling down 363
rebounds. She has undoubtedly been the best centre in women basketball this year and has earned the player of the week honour four times during the season.
Asjha Jones also recorded a double-double in the victory with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Renee Montgomery ended the game with 10 points and four assists.
Nicole Powell led New York with 14 points and seven rebounds. Cappie Pondexter posted 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out five assists and stole the ball twice while Kara Braxton came off the bench with 10 points in the
loss.
New York shot 35.7 percent (25 for 70) from the field and 75 percent (9 for 12) from free throw line while Connecticut shot 35.3 percent (24 for 68 ) from the floor and 80 percent (16 for 20) from the line. Connecticut won the
game on the back their terrific defence that produced eight steals and six blocked shots.
“That is playoff kind of atmosphere and good defence causes bad shooting usually,” New York coach John Whisenant said. “They beat us at the foul line, which has been our story all year.”
Connecticut opened their last game of the regular season on a 6-0 run and carried a 15-10 lead into the second frame. Liberty however stormed out in the second quarter and outscored the Sun 23-11, converting a five-point first
period deficit into a 33-26 lead at halftime. Connecticut continued to play solid basketball in the third quarter and held a 45-41 advantage with 02:42 to go in the period, before New York closed the third period on an 8-2 run and held a two-point lead, 49-47,
heading into the last quarter.
Connecticut came back into the contest early in the fourth quarter and tied the game at 59. Pondexter hit a jumper to put Liberty ahead by two, but Montgomery nailed a shot from downtown to make it 62-61. Powell then drove to the
rim and gave the Sun a 63-62 lead. Connecticut pulled away after that and scored seven consecutive points to end the regular season on a victorious note.
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