Sports stats



WNBA New York Liberty

New York Liberty Comeback against Minnesota Lynx Falls Short 79-69

May 31, 2016 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release


NEW YORK, NY - Despite another monster performance from forward Tina Charles, who finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth-straight double-double to start the season, the New York Liberty fell to the defending WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx 79-69 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Heading into the game, the Liberty had not trailed by double figures at any point this season, but the team found itself facing a 28-11 deficit after the first quarter.

Minnesota started the second quarter shooting just 1-of-7 from the field, as Shavonte Zellous made it a 10-point game with a drive to the basket, but the Lynx responded to take a 15-point lead into halftime.

The lead reached as many as 23 points early in the third quarter. Steadily New York chipped away, eventually pulling within six late in the fourth.

It was a 7-0 run, capped off by a Sugar Rodgers 3-point play at 2:26 that cut the Lynx lead down to 73-67. A Renee Montgomery jumper on the next possession halted the scoring spurt and effectively iced the game for Minnesota.

Zellous enjoyed her highest scoring game as a member of the Liberty, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Rodgers and Brittany Boyd each finished with nine points for New York.

The Liberty returns to action on Friday, June 3, when it hosts the Indiana Fever at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Stat Central

New York entered Tuesday's game averaging 15 more points per game in the paint than its opponents, but was outscored by Minnesota 32-28 in the interior.

Brittany Boyd came off the bench to post a +16 in 24 minutes of action despite struggling to find her shooting touch, hitting 1-of-10 field goals. She had three assists and was 7-for-8 from the line.

After being outscored 28-11 in the first quarter, the Liberty won each of the next three periods.

The Liberty committed 19 turnovers which led to 22 points for the Lynx; Minnesota was +14 in points off turnovers.

Tina Charles continues to lead the WNBA in scoring (23.4 ppg) and rebounding (11.8 rpg).

New York Liberty Quotes

Head Coach Bill Laimbeer

On the Team's performance:

"We didn't play as hard as we needed to in the first quarter like we did in quarters two, three, and four. Minnesota's a very big first quarter team, they execute so well and they came out and played with such intensity in the first quarter and we went down."

On Minnesota's shooting performance:

"They have good players, they have four Olympians on the team, so they're going to make shots. In the first quarter of the game, we gave them too many easy looks and that attributed to them shooting 49 [percent] or whatever they shot. That was a big part of that and we didn't have the defensive intensity necessary in the first quarter and it got us down. They're frontrunners; once they get their confidence, they make a lot of shots."

On Team's three game losing streak:

"As far at record-wise, yeah, we could have a much better record but we don't. I think that we have some issues that we have to move through, work our way through. We struggle to score. Our shooting percentage is not very good. We have to find a way to score some points and take the pressure of our defense. It's still a work in progress with our new faces, but that's not the case with what's causing the problem. The problem is we can't put the ball in the basket and tonight nineteen turnovers hurt us."

On Team's reliance on Tina Charles:

"I would say no, but yes. She's our horse. She's the one that gets it done for us. It's a catch-twenty two situation for us. What do you do when you go away from Tina for a while and struggle to score and the deficit grows or do you go at Tina and try to force feed the situation and make sure you get some buckets? Every game is going to be a bit different."

On Team's chemistry:

"I think our chemistry is fine right now. I think that we could use some more perimeter shot making. They're 16-1, the teams we lost to so far. They are more advanced at this point in the season, especially Minnesota."

On importance of each game:

"Every game is big in this league. You want to win your home games. I told our Team last week that I have great confidence in us being road warriors because our defense will carry us in many ways and our mindset is very tough and determined. The first couple of games we lost, we kind of kicked them away. This one we got beat."

Tina Charles

On tonight's game:

"I think we were just slow to make adjustments. Tanisha [Wright] said that at halftime. They were running a pick-and-roll play at the high, by the three-point line, and we weren't adjusting to it. Little things. As bigs, we weren't being conscious of [Renee] Montgomery and her pressuring Lindsey [Harding] in the backcourt. And little things like us setting the screen and letting her not think about that [part] of the game as far as pressure."

On making the necessary adjustments:

"It was a couple of things. It was the high pick-and-roll and us being late on adjusting to that. And it was a couple of things overall that we were just slow to adjust to when it came to the first quarter."

On team being unable to lead tonight:

"First of all, you have to credit Brittany Boyd and Shavonte Zellous. They both came in the game and they gave us a huge lift - just their demeanor - and it just became a domino effect. Sugar Rodgers - she got in foul trouble. Tanisha [Wright] got in foul trouble and these are two key players for us as far as our offense goes and our defense intensity is on the other side of the court. So it definitely took away from that."

Lindsey Harding

On her contribution to tonight's game:

"I feel like I can be more aggressive period like that's just what it is. [I] can't get frustrated if I make a mistake or something. [I] just have to keep going. I haven't been playing the way I've wanted to play, or at least sometimes. But, I need to be more consistent and that is frustrating. But, I'm going to keep looking at the next game. You always have another opportunity. There's another game. We'll get this team two more times and definitely keep my head up with that."

Minnesota Lynx Quotes

Coach Cheryl Reeve

On transition defense:

"It was a bad offense... We didn't have the focus when we had a bad offense to make sure we got back and had the mindset that if we don't score, they don't score. As good as we are, we still have a few more steps that we can take to be better and it's in those moments that great teams find a way to make sure they're a team that's gets stops.×´

On Team getting back into the game:

"Bad offense...one of the hardest things to coach through is when a team is up in double figures. You know the game isn't over. And this group is smart. They want more for themselves. We are happy to get a win. And happy to get one on the road, but it is something that's on my mind."

On being 6-0 and against good teams:

"More than anything it means we were ready coming out of training camp. Players wanted to be there on time. Maya Moore has never missed a day of training camp...We have players come early...We just have a group that came out of the gates and said we don't want to be a team that lets games early in the season get away from us. We were ready coming out of training camp.×´

Maya Moore

On her team:

"My team is better than ever and I am trying to figure out how we can all be great, and not just take those moments to feel like I have to do more than I need to. It's great to say "Yeah, I need to be more efficient and try to utilize everybody,' but, if you do not have the people to do that, it is not going to work. We have the people to do that. It is really fun, and I am really excited to come out every day and see how we are going to put this together today. It is a little more refreshing to know how much confidence we continue to develop."

On a strong start to the season and the potential to break a league season record:

"I am not thinking that far ahead. It would really be a cool thing - knowing that the record is out there for us. We are going to stay motivated and stay hungry. We will expect every opponent to come out and be ready to play. It is an extremely competitive league and, of course, that would be amazing, but it's going take a lot of days to find out."

Seimone Augustus

On a strong start to the season:

"It is still early in the season though. Teams are still trying to find their footing. We just so happened to be together for seven years, and we've matured together, so we have that automatic chemistry once we get onto the floor. We are happy to be 6-0 and we are pushing forward. We are playing pretty well for early in the season, but we have levels to go."

On level the team is at this early in the season:

"We still have some work to do. This is the second time we have given up a lead. We did it against Indiana the other night. We have to be able to be more consistent on keeping leads or extending leads. So we still have some work to do."

Check out the New York Liberty Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Women's National Basketball Association message board...

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from May 31, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central