WNBA New York Liberty

Liberty Going for Fourth Straight Tomorrow

Published on July 14, 2005 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release


The Liberty is going for its fourth straight win tomorrow! New York hosts the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. at The Garden on Friday. The team is coming off a huge overtime win in Houston on Tuesday, so come cheer Ann Wauters and the Liberty on to another victory tomorrow!

Friday is Maddie Day at The Garden. So stop by the Team Store to get a FREE Maddie ornament with every jersey or On Court purchase. In need of a gift? Pick up a Maddie mug for only $5, regularly $12.

Grab dinner at The Garden tomorrow. Save $1.50 on a cheeseburger with french fries at the concession stands. You can also enjoy a buy-one-get-one-free special on appetizers at Play by Play. Plus get Smirnoff Ice bottles for only $3 at the restaurant.

When you're at Play by Play, don't miss your chance to meet La'Keshia Frett and Elena Baranova! The players will be in the restaurant at The Garden following their game with Minnesota tomorrow. Everyone entering Play by Play will receive a raffle ticket and 50 lucky fans will win La'Keshia and Elena's autographs.

Save on parking at The Garden tomorrow! Park at the Meyers indoor lot on 31st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues and pay only $20 with your ticket stub or proof of payment to the game.

You won't want to miss any of the excitement! Purchase your tickets now for tomorrow's game by stopping by the MSG Box Office, calling 877-WNBA-TIX or logging on to nyliberty.com.

See you tomorrow at The Garden!

The Match-Up
New York hosts Minnesota tomorrow at Madison Square Garden ... Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ... This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season ... The Liberty is currently 8-7 (.533) after a 68-65 overtime win in Houston on Tuesday.

All-Time History vs. Minnesota (5-4)
New York has won the majority of its games against Minnesota , having claimed five of the nine games the two teams have played since 2000 ... The teams played twice in 2004 and split the series, as each team won on the road.

Up Next
The Liberty hits the road for a four game trip ... New York plays in Seattle on July 19, Phoenix on July 21, Sacramento on July 22 and Minnesota on July 24 ... All four games will be broadcast on MSG Network ... The team will return home on July 27 to face the Houston Comets at 7:30 p.m.

Team Notes
LOVING THE SPOTLIGHT
The Liberty has a perfect record on national television this season ... With Tuesday's win over Houston on ESPN2, New York is now 3-0 in front of a national audience ... The Liberty picked up wins on June 18 against Phoenix, which was carried on ABC, and June 12 against Detroit, which was broadcast on ESPN2 ... New York will look to make it a perfect 5-0 when both the August 6 game against Seattle and the August 20 game in Connecticut are broadcast on ESPN2.

LIKE BUTTER
The Liberty is on a roll on the road ... Tuesday's win in Houston was the second straight road win for the team ... The previous victory came on July 5 in Los Angeles ... This marks the first time in 2005 New York has captured two straight wins on the road.

IN THE MAJORITY
Tuesday's win over the Comets gave the Liberty a winning record in Houston ... Going into the game, New York was 4-4 all-time on the Comets' home court ... Tuesday's victory put the Liberty at 5-4 in Houston, sending the team above the .500 mark.

HIGH FIVE
All five Liberty starters scored in double figures in the win over Houston on Tuesday ... That is the first time this season that Becky Hammon, Vickie Johnson, Elena Baranova, Ann Wauters and Crystal Robinson have all scored 10 or more points in the same game ... Prior to Tuesday, the highest number of players to hit double digits in a game was four, which occurred in four different games ... New York is now a perfect 5-0 when four or more players scored 10 or more points in a game ... The last time all five Liberty starters scored in double figures was July 20, 2004 against the Charlotte Sting.

ALL TIED UP
New York's overtime win over Houston on Tuesday was as even keeled as could be ... The score was tied nine times in the game, the most in a Liberty game thus far in 2005 ... Previous to Tuesday, the highest number of times the score has been tied in a game this season was seven, which happened twice ... The score was tied seven times on both July 2 in San Antonio and on June 1 in Washington.

FAVORITE DISH
Crystal Robinson tied her career high for assists in the game against Houston on Tuesday ... She dished out six helpers in the victory over the Comets ... She had previously set that mark on July 1, 2003 against Connecticut.

LUCKY 13
Elena Baranova set a season high for scoring in Tuesday's victory in Houston ... She put in 13 points against the Comets ... That eclipsed her previous 2005 high for point production: 12 points on July 2 in San Antonio.

WORKING BOTH ENDS
Elena Baranova dominated both ends of the court in Tuesday's win ... Not only did she set a season high in scoring, but she also set a season high in steals ...Her three steals in the Comets win was a game high on Tuesday ... It also surpassed her prior 2005 best of two ... She picked off two steals on July 5 in Los Angeles and on June 18 against Phoenix ... The Liberty is 3-0 when Baranova records two or more steals.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Ann Wauters and Becky Hammon have opponents seeing double ... Wauters' 12 points on Tuesday against Houston was the 10th consecutive game that she has scored in double digits ... Wauters has scored in double figures in 13 of the 15 games the Liberty has played so far in 2005 ... Hammon's 10 points against the Comets was the seventh straight game she has put up double figures ... She has done so in 12 of the 15 games this season .... All that point production is paying off: Wauters leads the team in scoring with 14.1 ppg, while Hammon is just behind her at 13.4 ppg.

EVEN STEVEN
The Liberty is now at the .500 mark in overtime in 2005 ... Tuesday's 68-65 win over Houston put the team at 1-1 in extra period games this season ... The loss came, 68-66, at Detroit on June 3 ... New York was also .500 in overtime last year, having won two of the four games it played.

MEETING ADJOURNED
When the Liberty battled the Comets on Tuesday, the game featured a meeting of two members of a very elite WNBA club ... New York's Vickie Johnson and Houston's Sheryl Swoopes are two of the nine WNBA players to have reached the 3,000 career point mark ... Johnson came out on top of the match-up, as the Liberty defeated the Comets in overtime, 68-65 ... Johnson had 10 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists, while Swoopes posted 23 points, three rebounds and four assists.

BACK ON TRACK
New York's win over Houston on Tuesday gave the team a winning record, as the Liberty's record is 8-7 thus far in 2005 ... That makes for the second time this season the Liberty has been above the .500 mark, and the first since June 25 ... New York hit .500 with the June 18 victory over Phoenix, then garnered a winning record with the June 21 win over San Antonio.

REPEAT THE THREE-PEAT
With Tuesday's win in Houston, the Liberty has now won three straight games ... The team has defeated Los Angeles, Connecticut and Houston as of late ... The stretch is the second time this season the team has won three consecutive games ... The Liberty did so previously when it defeated Detroit on June 12, Phoenix on June 18 and San Antonio on June 21 ... The Liberty will look to make it four in a row for the first time in 2005 when Minnesota comes to town on Friday.

HARD TO GET INTO THIS CLUB
For the fifth time in the last six games, Vickie Johnson will play a fellow member of the exclusive 3,000 point club .... On Friday she will go up against Minnesota's Katie Smith ... Johnson has recently played fellow 3,000-ers Sheryl Swoopes on July 12, Nykesha Sales on July 7, Lisa Leslie and Chamique Holdsclaw on July 5 and Yolanda Griffith on June 30 ... She also faced Andrea Stinson on June 12 and 3 and May 22 ... The players are joined by Tina Thompson (who plays for Houston, but is not currently active) in the 3,000 point club.

LOVING THE LYNX
Becky Hammon has been quite successful against Minnesota so far in her career ... She has set career highs in both points and rebounds against the Lynx ... She pulled down eight boards in Minnesota on May 30, 2004 and netted 33 points against the Lynx on June 6, 2003, both career bests.

DON'T I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?
The Liberty will see a familiar face on the sidelines when Minnesota comes to town on Friday ... Former head coach Nancy Darsch will return to The Garden, only this time on the opposing bench ... Darsch was New York's first head coach, and remained at the helm of the team for two seasons ... She is now an assistant with the Lynx.

TAKE IT BACK
New York is looking to re-gain home court advantage over the Lynx on Friday ... The Liberty is 1-3 against Minnesota in the Big Apple ... The last New York win came on July 13, 2001.

THE LEADER BOARD
The Liberty and Lynx met twice in 2004 ... Elena Baranova led New York in scoring, having averaged 15.5 ppg during the two games ... Katie Smith was the top scorer for Minnesota in the series with a 16.0 ppg average ... Becky Hammon was the leading Liberty rebounder, pulling down 14 boards in the series ... Tamika Williams topped the Lynx rebounding with 16 total boards in the two games.

Check out the New York Liberty Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 14, 2005


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