Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
	VS.
New York Liberty (16-18) vs. Detroit Shock (24-10) (Detroit wins series 2-1)
Game 1 at MSG: New York 73, Detroit 51
Game 2 at Detroit: Detroit 76, New York 73
Game 3 at Detroit: Detroit 71, New York 70 (OT)

Janel McCarville lays the ball up over the Shock's Katie Feenstra and Shannon Johnson. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

GAME RECAP: August 12 – Detroit 84, New York 85: The Liberty rallied from a 13-point third quarter deficit and captured the victory with a buzzer-beating running jumper from Erin Thorn to keep its post-season hopes alive … New York poured in 32 first quarter points to lead Detroit by four … The Shock received four straight baskets from reserve forward Plenette Pierson in the final two minutes of the second period to bring the score to a tie at 49 … Coming out of the half, Detroit used a 19-2 run to take a 64-51 lead … To start the fourth, the Liberty went on its own run (12-2) to pull within three points … Janel McCarville scored four straight points to pull New York to 72-70 … Deanna Nolan extended the lead to five after nailing a trey, however the Liberty brought it back with a free throw from Ashley Battle and lay-up from Tiffany Jackson … Loree Moore hit a three of her own and the Liberty were within one with just over five minutes to play … Nolan answered with another three and a jumper to push Detroit's lead to six … After Nolan hit another jumper with 2:13 left, Battle's trey 20 seconds later pulled the Liberty to 84-81 … Cathrine Kraayeveld connected on a lay-up with 41.9 seconds to go to pull New York within one … On the next play, the Liberty grabbed the rebound off of Nolan’s missed jumper in the lane, leaving 25 seconds on the game clock … New York then retained possession three times when the ball went out of bounds, including the final time with 3.3 seconds left … Nolan led all scorers with 19 points … Jackson led the Liberty with 16 points and six rebounds, and five other players finished in double figures: Janel McCarville (14), Thorn (11), Battle (11) and Moore (11).

GAME RECAP: July 18 – New York 82, Detroit 87 (OT): The Liberty and Shock kept a steady pace with one another to open the game, but at the end of the first quarter, it was New York in front 17-14 … The Liberty shot .467 from the field, while the Shock hit five of 10 for .500 shooting … The Liberty maintained its lead through the second quarter, led by Janel McCarville with eight points and six boards … Deanna Nolan led the Shock with 10 first half points and three rebounds … Detroit edged New York on the glass, pulling down 17-16 … In the first half, the Liberty shot .545 from long-range, led by Erin Thorn and reserve guard Ashley Battle, with two of three shooting apiece … Heading into the half, New York led 39-33 … The Shock outscored the Liberty in the third quarter, 18-13, and took its first lead of the game with .36 seconds remaining in the third … New York took it back in the next play with a field goal by Barbara Farris and ended the quarter up 52-51 … The Shock continued to fight back in the fourth, once again outscoring the Liberty, 19-18 … Up 70-69 with 1:28 remaining, Detroit’s Swin Cash committed a foul on Shameka Christon’s lay-up … Christon converted the three-point play to tied the score at 70 … Neither team was able to execute in the final two possessions of the game and sent it into overtime … The Shock went on a 9-2 run in overtime and secured the win … Ashley Battle scored seven of her 17 points in the extra period, and Janel McCarville also added 17, with nine boards … Deanna Nolan led all scorers with 21 points.

GAME RECAP: July 6 – New York 82, Detroit 81 (OT): After nearly four minutes without a basket by either team, Deanna Nolan hit a jumper with 6:19 remaining in the 1st quarter … New York started the game 0-6, but went 5-8 from the field to finish the quarter with a total of 15 points led by Loree Moore with seven … In the second quarter, Detroit answered a New York 7-2 run, with a 9-2 run of their own to earn their largest lead of the game at eight … Back to back three pointers by Moore and Christon helped New York close to within five just before the end of the half … Cheryl Ford led all scorers with 12 points and also pulled down a first half high six rebounds … Moore led New York with ten first half points and two assists … In the third quarter, Erin Thorn hit a three pointer to tie the game at 37-37 with her first points since returning from a sprained ankle that kept her sidelined for four games … Moore earned her fourth assist of the night on McCarville’s made basket that cut the Shock lead to one, entering the final period with the score 49-48 … Christon’s three pointer at the 8:44 mark gave New York its first lead since late in the first quarter when the score was 15-13 … After spending much of the first half on the bench due to foul trouble, Kraayeveld scored 12 points in the fourth quarter … Nolan hit a three pointer with 4.2 second remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime … New York scored the first 6 points of overtime and held on for the win…McCarville recorded her first career double-double with career highs in points with 18 and rebounds with 12 … Moore finished with a career high 9 assists … Ford led all scorers with 22 points and pulled down a game-high 18 rebounds … The Liberty defeated the Shock 82-81 in overtime to snap a nine-game losing streak in Detroit.

GAME RECAP: June 8 – Detroit 67, New York, 57: The Liberty hit the ground running in the first quarter, led by Cathrine Kraayeveld, who scored eight of the team’s 19 first-quarter points, to give New York a 7-point lead over Detroit … Both teams grabbed eight rebounds a piece … The Shock outscored the Liberty in the second quarter, 21-8, led by Deanna Nolan … The Shock led at half-time 33-27 … In the third quarter, New York fought back by using a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to five … New York and Detroit each collected six rebounds in the fourth … New York outscored Detroit 8-2 in the paint in the final quarter, behind the play of Shameka Christon, who scored 14 of her game-high 18 points … Plenette Pierson came off the bench to score 13 points for the Shock.