NEW YORK PLAYERS

New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm (7/3)

Hartley on the second quarter of the game… “It just came down to getting turnovers, not really hitting shots they were able to get out in transition and kind of get some easy buckets, so we had to come together to stop their run and keep our composure.”

Hartley on her 1,000th point… “It feels great. It’s definitely a blessing. A lot of players try to get into this league and might not even be able to score a point so to reach 1,000 is a dream come true and I’m excited that I got the opportunity to do that.”

Hartley on losing after a win… “We just have to keep building I think. We’ve got a couple wins and then maybe a loss after the next game. We have to make sure we’re building good habits. We want to become consistent. We win one game and then come back and we lose another one so we just have to come back, keep coming together, and keep growing as a team. We want to be more consistent.”

Zahui B on how to come off of a loss… “We have to stay focused on all of the small things. Small things vary from game to game but we always have to box out, play good solid defense, and know that we are a winning team and that we can win as a team.”

Zahui B on how to come back… “Even though we’ve been playing together, we’re still learning. We have to go up and make it quicker. All teams are going to have runs. We just have to stay focused and locked in on what we’re doing.”

SEATTLE COACH

New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm (7/3)

Head coach Dan Hughes on the win… “Defensively, we guarded the paint extremely well. I thought that we were able to play out of our defense, and that gave us runs. Without our defense, the runs wouldn’t have been possible. Everything started defensively with us today. I thought our ability to protect the paint and not allow them to play to their strengths is what put us on top tonight.”

Hughes on guarding Tina Charles… “We guarded her with about half the team.”

Hughes on seeing facing the zone defense… “We hadn’t seen a lot of that this year. We had call a timeout and talk about it. I think that is the first time we faced an extended zone period. We combatted through ball movement. We had to make a little bit of an adjustment with our spacing. It was a good move strategically, because it was a bit foreign to us.”

Hughes on seeing facing the zone defense… “We worked hard to create situations where they had to make one more pass. We got a little lucky tonight too. They missed some shots and if they make some of those shots, then the things we are doing defensively don’t look quite as good.”

SEATTLE PLAYERS

New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm (7/3)

Jewell Loyd on Seattle outscoring Liberty 23-9 in second quarter… “I think we just got stops down the stretch. We came out and tried to be persistent on defense and pushing on offensive. They switched it up on us a little bit, but we just tried to stay consistent, attack, get in the paint a lot and find our shooters.”

Loyd on team holding Tina Charles to eight points in the game… “She’s a great post-player obviously, she’s an all-star and an Olympian. Our post players did a phenomenal job just being physical with her. Our help came from everywhere, so I think it was hard for her to tell where it was coming from because our guards came in and helped our post players a lot. So, it was definitely a team effort.”

Breanna Stewart on aggressive scoring mentality and finishing game with 21 points… “Just being aggressive and developing myself all over the court. My team mates put me in a good position to score and shoot the ball.”

Stewart on importance of keeping lead coming out of half time… “I think it’s really important. Especially when we are on the road, that we are constantly the ones that are punching first, because if they get the crowd behind them then they’re going to come back.”

Stewart on team having 25 assists… “I don’t think it’s anything new for us. We are a very unselfish team looking to put the ball in the basket and do what we can to win. It helps when you have the best point guard [Sue Bird] in the game on your team.”

NEW YORK COACH

New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm (7/3)

Head coach Katie Smith on her message to the team… “We are being very repetitive on what we’ve asked them to do. We are undisciplined and not always on the same page throughout the game. On both ends of the floor. It doesn’t matter who is in the game, it’s a lot of break downs and poor execution on both ends.”

Smith on Tina Charles lowest point total of the season… “Everyone is going to presser her. They were always sitting someone in her lap and bringing people from the backside. They were congesting with a lot of people. She is a willing passer and really facilitating. She just didn’t knock down shots and find those opportunities. Missed a couple jump shots but I thought Seattle for the most part made her work. They put a lot of people around her and made her make passes. Nothing new, she is going to face that the whole year. It’s going to be a lot of work on her end but also as a team we have to help by knocking down shots.” Smith on Bria Hartley’s explosive third quarter… “I’m just glad she was aggressive. We need another scorer, Piph [Epiphanny Prince], couldn’t quite get going tonight. I thought Brittany Boyd gave us good energy. Hartley moving the ball at the one but also moving her to the two position gives us another threat. She can create off the dribble and knock down shots. Bria [Hartley] is a very good offensive player that needs to continue to look for her shot.”

Smith on Seattle’s 16-2 run in the second quarter… “A couple missed shots. A couple easy run outs. They got a lot of easy buckets. If you are not scoring, you can’t let the other team score. At times, we couldn’t get a shot off or run through our offense. We didn’t score but we gave up layups. You have to dig in on the defensive end. Sometimes you aren’t going to hit shots but you can’t allow them to get easy run outs like that, offensive rebounds and getting those buckets.”

Smith on what separates teams in this league… “This league is so good. Very little separates top from bottom. The little things are what separates teams. Those that are more discipline and consistent throughout the 40 minutes are going to get wins.”

Smith on the Liberty’s mentality… “If we can come together and be a little bit more discipline and execute the game on both ends, then I think we can play with anyone. I truly believe that we can beat anybody. Right now, we are beating ourselves in a lot of games in a variety of ways.”

NOTES New York Liberty vs. Seattle Storm (7/3)

Coming off back-to-back games with over 90 points, the New York Liberty offense stalled against the Seattle Storm as they fell at home, 77-62.

The Liberty managed just nine points in the second quarter, the first time this season they’ve finished a quarter with a single-digit scoring output.

Tina Charles came into the contest averaging 26.0 points per game over her past two. She got off to a slow start, scoring just three points before half on 1-of-6 shooting from the field. The veteran finished with eight points, a season-low and her first game this season with less than 10.

The Liberty held a 26-25 lead with four minutes left in the second quarter, but they failed to make another field goal before the halftime as the Storm went on a 14-2 run.

Kia Vaughn got off to a hot start, registering eight points in the first quarter. The center would go on to score just two more points, but she finished in double figures for the third time in her last four games.

After failing to score in the first half, Bria Hartley exploded for 14 points in the third quarter. With her 14th, the fifth-year pro scored the 1,000th point of her career. She finished with a team-high 16 points.

Amanda Zahui B finished with 13 points in 19 minutes off the bench. The center has scored in doublefigures in five of her last seven appearances.

After scoring in double figures in eight of her first 11 games, rookie Kia Nurse has failed to reach the 10point plateau in each of her last six appearances. Against the Storm, she was held scoreless for the first time in her career.

The Liberty’s 62-point output was their second-lowest of the season, besting only the 54 points they scored against the Sparks (6/24).

Liberty players assisted on 20 of their 26 field goals. It was their fourth straight game with at least 20 assists.

The loss was the Liberty’s sixth in their past seven games.

New York is just 1-8 against Western Conference foes this season.

Seattle Notes

Seattle held New York to 26 first-half points (12-for-30), the lowest first-half scoring output for a Storm opponent in 2018. The previous low was Indiana (30) on 6/22.

Breanna Stewart, the league’s leading scorer who came into the night averaging 21.9 PPG, scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She also tied a season-high with three steals, accomplishing the feat for the fourth time in 2018.

Jewell Loyd eclipsed the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season, tying Breanna Stewart for gamehigh honors with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting to go along with four rebounds.

Natasha Howard posted 13 points and had five rebounds. She’s hit one or more three-pointers in eight games this season.

Sue Bird dished out a season-high-tying 11 assists (11 vs. Los Angeles, 6/28). She has now handed out nine or more assists in five-straight games, accumulating a total of 50 dimes in those games.

Alysha Clark ended with four assists, tying a season-high for the seventh-year forward. She also notched four assists vs. Connecticut on 6/15.

Seattle improved to 11-1 with the starting lineup of Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart, Alysha Clark and Natasha Howard.

The Storm is now 5-2 on the road, continuing to add to its best road start in franchise history.

Seattle shot 90 percent or better from the free throw line for the sixth time this season, going 12-for-13 for 92.3 percent.

The Storm outrebounded the Liberty, 38-31, which translated into a 19-8 edge in second-chance points.