Postgame Notes:

New York Liberty vs. Connecticut Sun (8/1)

In their first game back from the All-Star break, the New York Liberty fell to the Connecticut Sun on the road, 92-77.

The Liberty played without two members of their regular starting lineup, Shavonte Zellous and Epiphanny Prince. Zellous is nursing a right ankle sprain, while Prince is recovering from a right knee contusion.

The Liberty found themselves in an early 9-0 hole, as they didn’t enter the scoring column until the 7:02 mark in the first quarter.

New York ended the first period on a 6-0 run, trimming the Connecticut lead to three. They went on to seize their first lead of the game after a 5-0 run to start the second quarter.

After the Liberty took the lead, the Sun outscored them 27-16 for the rest of the quarter, and they entered the break with a nine-point advantage.

The Liberty began the second half on a 10-0 run, briefly re-taking a 49-48 lead. The Sun responded with a 11-2 run of their own to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Making her fifth start of the season, Sugar Rodgers led the Liberty with 16 points, hitting three of her seven attempts from behind the arc. The guard chipped in six assists as well, the fifth of which was the 300th of her career.

Brittany Boyd had another standout game for the Liberty, finishing with 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds. The floor general has had at least eight helpers in five of her last seven appearances.

Amanda Zahui B and Tina Charles also finished in double figures, registering 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Charles added six rebounds and three blocks to the Liberty cause.

The Liberty finished with 22 assists; they came into the contest averaging 21.2 per game over their past six.

The contest was the first between the Liberty and Sun this season that wasn’t won on the final possession. The previous two ended with game-winning buzzer beaters.

The loss was the Liberty’s fifth in a row, and with the victory the Sun clinched the season series, 2-1.

Liberty Quotes:

NEW YORK COACH
Head Coach Katie Smith’s thoughts on the game…
“Tough. We could not quite ever get any rhythm. We knew that they were going to pay a lot of attention
to Tina (Charles) every time she touched the ball. We didn’t hit shots when we needed to but the
defensive end was probably the biggest problem as we allowed them to penetrate and get buckets at the
rim both off the dribble and a couple three balls. We gave them too much space and didn’t take away the
shot or the drive.”

Smith on injuries playing a factor in tonight’s game…
“It doesn’t help, but it is still a winnable ball game? No doubt. I think we have enough to compete in this
league and could have tonight. Some of the discipline things like being able to shutdown people and guard
them let us down tonight. We have to be able to lock in and guard people and on the defensive end it is
not about talent, it’s all about effort. I think that is where we let the ball drop a little bit and allowed them
to keep that cushion.”

Smith on the physical matchup…
“They are tough. They battle and they do not back down. They are strong and have good guards that will
go take a hit and get in there and be aggressive. They just keep coming, fly around the court and find
each other and things start flowing for them. Jonquel (Jones) did a nice job knocking down shots for them,
Morgan (Tuck) came in and gave them good minutes and (Shekinna) Stricklen was hot. They put a lot of
pressure on you on the offensive end, but it is going to take a lot of effort in this league to guard anybody,
and that is what we didn’t get done for the whole 40 minutes.”

Amanda Zahui B on the physical matchup
“We are both physical teams and we are trying to play physical to win the ball game.”

Zahui B on injuries being a factor in the game
“We are missing two key players and Bria (Hartley) towards the end of the game. Obviously, we are
missing those scorers, defenders and leaders so it was a big key.”

Tina Charles on the physical matchup
“We are just trying to win the game. I think every matchup we play in this league and every team is
great. I think where the standings are, everything is in bunches and everyone is trying to figure
themselves out before certain teams get into the playoffs.”

Charles on injuries being a factor in the game
“I don’t think it was a big factor. Everybody on this team is capable of stepping up, playing and winning
games regardless of who we don’t have out on the floor due to injuries.”