Liberty-Sky Preview

By SAMANTHA PANITCH
Posted Jul 22 2010 3:43PM

The Chicago Sky and New York Liberty are tied for last place in the Eastern Conference, but that hardly puts them out of the playoff picture.

Just 1 1/2 games out of the fourth and final playoff spot, the Sky host the Liberty on Friday night with New York looking to complete a sweep of the season series.

The Liberty (10-10) have clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Sky (11-11) by taking the first three meetings of the season. New York won the last matchup 57-54 at home July 11, with Cappie Pondexter scoring 14 of her 30 points in the final 12:15 to rally the Liberty from 13 down late in the third quarter.

The Chicago native has averaged 27.7 points versus the Sky this year, with two of her 30-point performances coming against them.

While Pondexter has provided the scoring, another key to the Liberty's dominance of the season series has been slowing down Sylvia Fowles.

The All-Star center scored 23 points in the teams' first meeting May 16, but was held to a total of 23 in the last two matchups. New York was able to do so by limiting Fowles' shots, as she had only nine in each contest.

She managed four points in the second half July 11 and finished with a season high-tying five turnovers.

Fowles, averaging 18.0 points and 9.8 rebounds on the season, has helped spark a three-game winning streak that has lifted Chicago to the .500 mark for the first time this season.

Fowles scored 13 points and made the go-ahead basket inside late to give the Sky a 61-59 victory over Washington on Sunday. She added 11 rebounds for her sixth consecutive double-double.

Dominique Canty scored 11 points and Jia Perkins chipped in 10 for Chicago, which has won three straight for the first time since a four-game run from May 27-June 5. Its last loss came against the Liberty.

``Physically I think we're fine,'' Fowles said. ``Mentally, I think we need to catch up. Just because it's been a lot for us and it's been an up-and-down season.''

New York is coming off of a key win of its own, 82-74 over Connecticut on Tuesday that further tightened up the hotly contested East. Pondexter scored six of her game-high 24 points in overtime and Leilani Mitchell had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Liberty.

New York led 61-48 with over four minutes left in regulation, but the Sun's Renee Montgomery scored 12 points in the final 1:48 to force the extra period.

``This was a huge win for us,'' New York coach Anne Donovan said. ``We just came off of an overtime game against Indiana that we didn't finish (84-81 on Sunday). ``Considering how they finished regulation, it was great to see us regroup and really take over in overtime.''

McWilliams-Franklin leads Liberty past Sky, 79-71

Posted Jul 23 2010 11:12PM

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) Taj McWilliams-Franklin scored 18 points, Cappie Pondexter had 16 and the New York Liberty beat the Chicago Sky 79-71 on Friday night.

Nicole Powell added 11 points to help the Liberty (12-11) win for the seventh time in 10 games and complete a sweep of the four-game season series. McWilliams-Franklin shot 8 for 11 from the field.

New York moved above .500 for the first time since beating Chicago in the Liberty's season-opener, and took over sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference - one-game behind Connecticut.

Epiphanny Prince scored 14 points to lead last-place Chicago (11-12). Dominique Canty had 13 points, Sylvia Fowles added 12 points and 16 rebounds and Jia Perkins also scored 12.

Pondexter hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer to start a 10-0 run that gave the Liberty a 71-61 lead with 6:46 left. The Sky got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

The Liberty were 9 for 19 on 3-pointers, with Powell and Leilani Mitchell making three apiece. Mitchell is 11 for 19 (58 percent) on 3s over the last three games, making at least three each time. The Sky managed just 3 of 17 from beyond the arc.

Trailing by nine points early in the third quarter, the Liberty used a 14-2 run to take a 55-52 with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the period. Plenette Pierson hit two free throws to give New York the lead and then her layup put them up three.

Mistie Bass and Prince had consecutive layups to put the Sky ahead 57-56 with 1 1/2 minutes left in the third, but Powell hit a 3 and McWilliams-Franklin made a jumper to give the Liberty a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Prince had two layups in the opening minute of the final quarter to tie the score at 61-all.

The Liberty then had their decisive run.

New York opened the game with three consecutive 3s for an early 9-3 lead on the way to a 21-19 advantage after one quarter.

Chicago scored the first eight points of the second quarter and briefly gave up the lead as Prince scored six points to help the Sky take a 44-37 advantage at halftime.

• Liberty: --
• Sky: --

• Liberty: --
• Sky: --

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: AllState Arena, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #8 Daryl Humphrey, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 5256
• Duration: 1:49