LIBERTY OFFENSE STALLS AGAINST STORM, 77-62
White Plains, NY – The New York Liberty held a 26-25 lead over the Seattle Storm with four minutes left in the second quarter, but that would be its last advantage of the contest. The Storm (13-5) went on a 14-2 run to end the half, eventually coming out on top, 77-62, at the Westchester County Center on Tuesday night.
Coming off back-to-back games with over 95 points, the Liberty (5-12) offense could not get much going against the Storm. Their 62-point output was their second-lowest of the season, besting only the 54 points they scored against the Sparks (6/24).
Head coach Katie Smith explained why Seattle pulled away. “They got a lot of easy buckets. If you are not scoring, you can’t let the other team score. At times, we couldn’t get a shot off or run through our offense. Sometimes you aren’t going to hit shots, but you can’t allow them to get easy baskets like that.”
After not scoring in the first half, Bria Hartley exploded for 14 points in the third quarter. With her 14th point, the fifth-year pro scored the 1,000th point of her career. She finished with a team-high 16 points, hitting three of her five attempts from behind the arc.
Hartley commented on the milestone. “It feels great. It’s definitely a blessing. A lot of players try to get into this league and might not even be able to score a point so to reach 1,000 is a dream come true and I’m excited that I got the opportunity to do that.”
Amanda Zahui B added 13 points to the Liberty cause in 19 minutes off the bench. The center has scored in double-figures in five of her last seven appearances.
The loss was the New York’s sixth in their past seven games, and their eighth in nine matchups against Western Conference foes this season. Next up, the Liberty head back to Washington for a rematch against the Mystics on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Capital One Arena.
