Connecticut Sun defeat NY Liberty
The New York Liberty announced their despite 20 points and 9 rebounds from All-Star Tina Charles fell to the Connecticut Sun 79-57 in its 2017 preseason finale on Sunday afternoon at Levien Gymnasium on the campus of Columbia University.
It was the second-straight season the Liberty hosted a preseason contest at Columbia open exclusively for season ticket holders. It was the team’s final warmup before the 2017 season opener next Saturday, May 13, against the San Antonio Stars at Madison Square Garden at 3 p.m.
New York fell behind 21-5 after the first quarter of play, but then Charles took over in the second period to pull her squad back into it. Charles scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the 2nd, going 5-of-6 from the field. After falling behind 29-16, Charles led a 7-0 run, capped off by a bucket in the paint to make it a two-possession game at 29-23.
The Liberty trailed by 10 at the end of the first half, and the Sun opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run, powered by 5 points from Jasmine Thomas, including a 3-pointer at 8:24 that made it 45-29. Charles was the only Liberty player to finish in double figures. Bria Hartley scored 9 points and knocked down a trey. In her first action since rejoining the team Amanda Zahui B scored 4 points with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and two steals.
New York was plagued by turnovers in the loss, giving it away 23 times, which led to 25 points for the Sun, Connecticut was +14 in points off turnovers in the win.
Quotes:
Tina Charles was one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 21 minutes of playing time. She was also 8-of-9 at the free throw line
• Amanda Zahui B had a team-high 3 assists for the Liberty, her 1st preseason game since joining the team earlier this week
• Morgan Tuck scored 20 points to lead the Sun
• New York shot just 1-of-10 from 3-point range with Bria Hartley hitting the team’s only triple
• The Liberty was outrebounded for a 2nd-straight game, with the Sun winning on the glass 38-35
Head Coach Bill Laimbeer
Overall assessment of tonight’s game: “We didn’t play well, they were more physical. We need to be a little tougher mentally and physically as a group but we didn’t have all of our players. It’s still not an excuse but it is a reality. We’ll start filtering them in on Monday and Tuesday so it’ll give us a little bit more offensive fire power.”
On if the team realized that their effort and intensity needed to be better: “Our intensity was okay, it’s just the physicality bothered us tonight. They were a very physical basketball team today, we didn’t match that and that’s the way the league is moving. And like I said, some of our other players that will come in, have a veteranship about them and they’re a little bit more physical basketball players.
Tina Charles
On the team’s overall preseason performance: “The positives are that everything that is negative we can control. We can do better. Every team in the league is good. We can’t overlook one team. If we’re not physical, if we’re not tough enough, then it’s going to be a long season. But, again those are the things we’re able to control.”
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