NY Liberty vs San Antonio Stars
The New York Liberty used a big 2nd quarter run to create separation and then held on for an 86-82 win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena. Powered by a strong effort from its bench, New York opened the 2nd with 10 unanswered points on the way to building an 11 point lead. Tina Charles (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Kiah Stokes (10 points, 16 rebounds) both posted a double-double for the Liberty.
New York has won consecutive road games for the 1st time this season, picking up victories at Indiana and Chicago. The Liberty is also back to 2 games over .500 for the 1st time since June 23.
Tina Charles finished with 15 points in the win over Chicago to move past Crystal Robinson (2,301) for 4th place in Liberty history. Charles now has 2,312 points as a member of the Liberty.
The Liberty assisted on 8 of its 1st 9 field goals in the win over Chicago en route to a season-high 25 assists as a team. There were 9 players that recorded at least one assist for New York, led by Tina Charles who posted 5 assists.
MVP PERFORMANCE
Tina Charles continues to perform as one of the leading candidates for WNBA Most Valuable Player as she leads the Liberty nearly every night while averaging a double-double for the year. Charles ranks 3rd in the WNBA in scoring at 20.6 ppg and is 2nd with 10.0 rebounds per game. She has posted a team-leading 11 double-doubles this season and has scored over 20 points in 14 different games. She has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week 4 times.
Center Kiah Stokes has been a powerful presence in the paint over the last two games, hauling in double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games in addition to posting her 3rd double-double of the season in the win over Chicago on July 30 when she had 10 points and 16 rebounds. Over the last two Liberty road wins, Stokes is averaging 8.0 ppg and 13.0 rpg. She also blocked 3 shots against the Sky, which matched a season high and she is averaging 2.5 bpg over the previous 2 contests.
The number of points that Tina Charles needs to move past Becky Hammon (2,367) for 3rd place in franchise history in scoring. Charles currently ranks 4th with 2,312 points.
New York shot a season-best 53.3 percent from 3-point range in the win over Chicago on July 30, sinking 8-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Liberty had not shot over 50.0 percent from three in a game this season.
New York dished out a season-high 25 assists as a team in the win over Chicago on July 30. 9 different players had at least 1 assists and Tina Charles recorded a team-high 5 dimes.
The Liberty is leading the WNBA in defensive field goal percentage at .409. New York has led the league in defensive shooting percentage in back-to-back seasons.
Tina Charles has posted a double-double in 55.6 percent of her career games played. She has 140 double-doubles in her career and leads the Liberty with 11 double-doubles this season.
New York erased a 15-point 2nd half deficit to come back in beat Indiana 85-84 on 7/28. It was the largest deficit overcome for a win this season, and the largest since digging out of a 15-point hold in the 4th quarter at Minnesota on 6/29/16.
Since making a change to the starting lineup before the game against the Mystics on July 16, the Liberty has gone 4-1 while being invigorated by increased production from its bench. Last season, New York ranked 4th in the WNBA with 28.3 bench points per game. Entering the game against Washington, the Liberty was last in the league, averaging just 14.8 ppg from its reserves. That changed with a 41 point effort from the 2nd unit, and New York followed that up with 29 points from its bench, surpassing 20 bench points in consecutive games for the 1st time this season.
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