Liberty-Sun Preview

By ZAC POWELL
Posted Jul 18 2011 6:29PM

All-Star Tina Charles and the Connecticut Sun have been unstoppable at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Connecticut looks to remain the only unbeaten home team in the WNBA on Tuesday night when it meets league-leading scorer Cappie Pondexter and the New York Liberty, the only club in the Eastern Conference with a winning road record.

The Sun (8-5) just passed another big test on their own court Sunday, as Charles and rookie Danielle McCray led the way in a 76-71 victory over the first-place Indiana Fever in McCray's first home start.

McCray scored 22 points and helped the Sun, 6-0 at home, exploit the Fever's double-team on Charles.

"My teammates found me on the weak side and when I had the ball, I knocked it down," McCray said. "They were cheating inside because when we have a good post player like Tina Charles, the other team is going to double-team her."

McCray was the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft but missed all of last year due to a knee injury. Coach Mike Thibault knew when the Sun selected McCray that she'd be out for 2010, but the team decided it was worth the wait.

"When we drafted her we felt she had a chance to be a really good player," Thibault said.

McCray's first start was in Friday's 68-59 win over the Liberty (9-6), as the Sun ended the game on a 10-0 run.

"It's one of those losses where you're like 'why did we have to lose?' But it happens," said Pondexter, averaging 20.3 points. "You can't get too high, can't get too low in this league. The most important thing is forget about it and move on."

The Liberty rebounded against league-worst Tulsa on Sunday with an 88-57 home victory. Pondexter scored 18 points in 21 minutes compared to 11 in 34 against the Sun.

"We played with more energy, our feet were alive and we didn't have our mud boots on," said coach John Whisenant, whose team is 4-3 on the road.

Part of that energy was due to the return of Plenette Pierson, who is second on the Liberty with 5.2 rebounds per game and third with an average of 12.9 points. She missed the matchup against Connecticut due to a knee injury.

The Sun and Liberty trail Indiana by one game in the East.

"Any win in the conference is always key because it's going to be close down the stretch," Sun guard Renee Montgomery said. "We don't want it to come down to the end where we're hoping somebody else loses. ... We want to put ourselves in a good position going down the stretch. This is only about halfway through the season, but still as much as you can do early in the season the better."

Charles scores 24 to lead Sun over Liberty 85-79

Posted Jul 19 2011 11:09PM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Tina Charles scored eight of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Connecticut Sun to an 85-79 win over the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.

The Sun (9-5) won their third straight game heading into the All-Star break and moved into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. Connecticut leads second-place Indiana by percentage points.

``It feels great because I remember last season we had a back-to-back against New York and Atlanta before the All-Star break and we lost both games going into the break,'' Charles said. ``It feels great to go into the break this time around after three wins. It was a tough win but it showed how well we have been playing at home.''

Renee Montgomery added 13 points and 10 assists for Connecticut, the lone remaining unbeaten team in the WNBA at home this season (7-0).

Plenette Pierson led New York (9-7) with 18 points.

``I would hope this game gives us the confidence and a mental image of how we're supposed to play,'' Sun coach Mike Thibault said. ``We were really good for long periods of the game tonight.''

Essence Carson's basket with 8:48 remaining brought New York, which trailed by as many as 18 in the third quarter, within six at 66-60. But the Sun held New York to three points in the next 5:07 to build a 78-63 lead.

Carson made a 3-pointer with 29.7 seconds left to make it 82-77, but Kara Lawson and Danielle McCray made free throws to seal it.

Lawson had 12 points and McCray scored 10 for the Sun.

Cappie Pondexter had 16 points for the Liberty, Nicole Powell had 14, Carson 11 and Kia Vaughn 10.

The Sun made seven of 10 3-point attempts in the first half and 10 of their final 14 shots of the first half to take a 47-35 lead at the break.

``I'm proud of my team, we didn't give up and I thought Connecticut played very well; there is a reason they are undefeated here,'' New York coach John Whisenant said. ``They had 23 assists and we only had one steal which are indications that our defense allowed them to run their offense. You have to give them credit, they did a nice job.''

• Liberty: --
• Sun: --

• Liberty: --
• Sun: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Officials: #4 Sue Blauch, #7 Clarke Stevens, #27 Penny Davis
• Attendance: 6096
• Duration: 1:54