Liberty Game Notes: May 5, 2010
Published on May 4, 2010 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release
NEW YORK LIBERTY (0-0) VS WASHINGTON MYSTICS (0-0)
Pre-Season Game No. 1 Pre-Season Road Game No. 1 Wednesday's Game Wednesday, May 5, 2010 @ 11:30 AM EST
Current Streaks
Overall: Lost 0 Home: Lost 0 Road: Lost 0
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Probable Starters
Guard #5 Leilani Mitchell Avg: 12.8 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 1.2 apg Notes: Led the team in assists six times, finished 2009 ranked as WNBA's No. 1 assists per turnover leader (2.92)
Guard #17 Essence Carson Avg: 25.3 mpg, 10.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.4 apg Notes: Team's third highest scorer last season, led the club in scoring six times, scoring 10-plus points 15 times
Forward #32 Kalana Greene Avg: 0.0 mpg, 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg Notes: Recently competed with the U.S. Women's National Team during their second training camp
Forward #20 Tiffany Jackson
Avg: 14.6 mpg, 5.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.7 apg Notes: Collected five or more rebounds in 12 games last season, earned a career-high nine starts
Center #4 Kia Vaughn
Avg: 11.6 mpg, 4.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.2 apg Notes: Posted in double figures four times and grabbed five or more boards five times last season
2010 Record
Record Home Road Overtime
East: 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
West: 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Overall: 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
More Liberty Notes
SUMMER SERIES: The Liberty and Mystics will face off five times in the regular season this summer ... Washington will play host to five of those games ... Today's match-up is the only time these two clubs will see each other in the pre-season.
DAYTIME DRAMA: New York's pre-season schedule features two matinee match-ups against Eastern Conference rivals ... Following today's game, the Liberty will face off against the Connecticut Sun at Madison Square Garden at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 11.
OPEN SESAME: The Liberty will open its 14th WNBA season at The Garden on Sunday, May 16 versus the Chicago Sky ... It will be the sixth time the season has opened in front of the team's home crowd and the second time New York and Chicago have opened their seasons together ... The Liberty is 3-10 all-time on Opening Day, 2-3 when playing the role of host ... The last time both clubs met on Opening Day, New York won 83-71.
VETERAN REPORTING FOR DUTY: The Liberty acquired WNBA Champion and six-time All-Star Taj McWilliams-Franklin on April 22 ... The league veteran came to the Big Apple after spending two seasons with the Detroit Shock, where she won the 2008 WNBA Championship ... The 6-2 center owns a 12.1 ppg and 7.2 rpg career average through 339 games with 336 starts ... McWilliams-Franklin has previously played for Head Coach Anne Donovan during her stints with USA Basketball, as well as the American Basketball League (ABL).
LAST TIME AROUND: The Liberty topped the Mystics at The Garden on the final day of the regular season, 85-65 ... It was New York's largest margin of victory of the season and evened the season series at two games apiece.
DRAFT REVIEW: The Liberty selected forward Kalana Greene of the University of Connecticut, guard Ashley Houts of the University of Georgia and Cory Montgomery of the University of Nebraska with the No. 13, No. 16 and No. 25 overall picks in the 2010 WNBA Draft ... Greene comes to New York riding a 78-game win streak from UCONN with two National Championships.
BYRD LANDS IN NY: Laurie Byrd has returned to the Liberty sidelines for her first full season as assistant coach ... Byrd previously served as an interim assistant coach, joining New York on August 10, 2009 ... A Flint, MI native, she has previously worked as an assistant with the Detroit Shock (2003-2005), when they captured the 2003 WNBA Championship, and the Houston Comets (2007)
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from May 4, 2010
- Silver Stars Face China National Team in Preseason Game 1 - San Antonio Stars
- Liberty Game Notes: May 5, 2010 - New York Liberty
- Connecticut Sun Top Atlanta in Pre-Season Contest - Connecticut Sun
- WNBA and NBA D-League Games to Stream in HD for First Time - WNBA
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