Liberty-Sun Preview

By TOM CASTRO
Posted Sep 26 2012 3:48PM

The Connecticut Sun saw their season end in disappointment the first three times they earned a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. They'll try to put an end to that trend starting Thursday night when they open their best-of-three semifinal series against the New York Liberty - whom the Sun mostly dominated in 2012.

The Eastern Conference champion Sun (25-9) will be trying to overcome their own daunting history in this postseason, as they were a top seed from 2004-06 but fell short of the WNBA title each time. Connecticut reached the league finals in the first two of those years, then fell in the conference finals in 2006 - the last time it advanced that deep into the playoffs.

The Sun have made the postseason four times in the six seasons since, only to add to their disheartening legacy. Connecticut, though, thinks this year could be different.

Behind league rebounding champ Tina Charles, who averaged 10.5 boards and 18.0 points, and guard Kara Lawson, who scored 15.1 points per game, the Sun will try to ride their formidable inside-outside combination to their first title.

Connecticut certainly looked primed for a long playoff run at the end of the season, winning its last three games and blowing out postseason-bound Atlanta 92-72 on Sunday to close out its schedule.

Lawson had 21 points and eight rebounds while setting a franchise record for 3-pointers in a season with 74. Charles, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, broke her team mark with an 18.0 points-per-game average after establishing the record with 17.6 last year.

Lawson quickly turned her attention to her team's opening-round opponent after the game.

"I thought we ran the ball down the court well, which is how we want to play in the playoffs," Lawson said. "Particularly when you're talking about a defensive team like New York. They like to settle into their halfcourt defense, which makes it difficult for me to run my stuff."

The Liberty (15-19) did manage to frustrate the star guard in the teams' five meetings this season. Lawson, who averaged 15.1 points on the year, totaled 30 in the first four matchups before a 21-point, five-assist, five-rebound effort in the last one, an 85-74 Sun home win Aug. 16.

New York had considerably less success against Charles, who averaged 21.8 and 10.3 boards in the season series to power Connecticut to four victories.

While the Liberty are surely making shutting down Charles their top priority on defense, that could prove even more difficult with forward Asjha Jones having returned for the last two games. Jones, who averaged 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds before the Olympic break, played a combined 17 minutes and scored four points in each of those last two contests after missing the previous 13 with an injury sustained playing for Team USA.

Jones averaged 8.0 boards in three games versus New York in 2012 and had a 20-point performance in a 92-77 win over the Liberty on May 20.

New York ended Connecticut's season in 2008 with a 2-1 victory over the second-seeded Sun in the conference semifinals. The Liberty's chances of pulling off another upset rest most heavily with Cappie Pondexter, named Eastern Conference player of the month after leading her team to a 6-3 finish to capture the final East postseason berth.

The star guard was third in the league with 20.4 points per game - nearly eight more than Plenette Pierson, who was second on the team in scoring. Pondexter may go head-to-head with Lawson in a high-profile backcourt matchup that could go a long way toward deciding the series.

The Liberty will also be looking to overcome their own recent disappointments in the playoffs as they make their third straight appearance. New York fell in the East semis the last two years, losing to top-seeded Indiana in three games in 2011.

"We have just got to focus on our stuff," said veteran Kara Braxton, who will be tasked with battling Charles and Jones in the paint. "We need to click on all cylinders, rebound the ball, we've got to put in easy chippers, box out and contain pressure - which is a lot of stuff but we are going to work on it the next couple of days before we go up to Connecticut."

New York is also seeking its first WNBA title after coming up short four times in the league finals. Connecticut took the first playoff matchup between the teams in 2004, winning 2-0 in the East finals.

Game 2 will be Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Charles powers Sun past Liberty in playoff opener

Posted Sep 28 2012 1:54AM

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Tina Charles collected her first WNBA MVP award, then showed why she deserved the honor.

Charles had 17 points and four blocks to power the Connecticut Sun to a 65-60 victory over the New York Liberty in their playoff opener on Thursday night.

``The day is going great,'' the third-year center said. ``I got a (personal) achievement, and we got the first playoff win. Now we have to build on that.''

Game 2 of the best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinal series is at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday at 7 p.m.

It was the Sun's first playoff win since they beat the Liberty 73-70 on Sept. 20, 2008.

``I'm happy with the win,'' Connecticut coach Mike Thibault said. ``I'm happy with the effort. We need to play a lot better.''

Asjha Jones had 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Connecticut (26-9), which is the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Kara Lawson added eight points, six rebounds and five assists.

Cappie Pondexter had 14 points, six assists and four steals for the Liberty (15-20). Plenette Pierson finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

The Sun and Liberty were tied at 45 with over a minute left in the third quarter when Connecticut pulled away with a 12-0 run. It held New York scoreless for a 6 1/2-minute stretch that began late in the third quarter and extended into the fourth.

Renee Montgomery made two free throws early in the fourth quarter, then fed Mistie Mims for a layup. Jones continued Connecticut's run with a pull-up jumper.

A steal and layup by Tan White made it 57-45, prompting a timeout by Liberty coach John Whisenant with 7:57 remaining.

``Once we didn't turn it over and got stops, we were able to get out on the break,'' Jones said. ``Tan and Mistie did a great job coming off the bench.

``Mistie is going to play hard inside, and she does a great job moving without the ball and freeing up people.''

New York shot 23 percent (9 of 39) in the second half.

``It was just a frustrating night offensively for us,'' Pondexter said. ``If you're on a team's home court and expect to win, you've got to shoot better.''

New York closed to 59-52 with over five minutes left in the game, but Allison Hightower responded with a spinning jumper and White scored to extend the lead to 11.

New York trailed by seven when Nicole Powell opened the second half with a 3-pointer, her third of the game, to trim the deficit to four. Braxton and Pierson made consecutive layups to tie it at 41 with over seven minutes left in the third.

Charles made eight of 17 shots after she received her MVP award before the game. Charles, who averaged 18 points and a WNBA-best 10.5 rebounds, received 25 first-place votes and 345 points overall from a panel of 41 sports writers and broadcasters, the league said. Los Angeles forward Candace Parker was second with seven first-place votes and 253 points.

Two Sun guards also were recognized by the league. Montgomery took home the WNBA's Sixth Woman Of the Year honor after averaging 11.6 points and Lawson received the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award.

• Liberty: --
• Sun: --

• Liberty: --
• Sun: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Officials: #55 Eric Brewton, #24 Tony Dawkins, #34 Maj Forsberg
• Attendance: 5520
• Duration: 1:50