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WNBA New York Liberty

New York Liberty game notes

July 11, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release


New York Liberty @ Houston Comets
July 12, 2005 - 8:00 p.m. - ESPN2

Keep up with the Liberty on the road tomorrow! New York will be in Houston on Tuesday to face the Comets. The match-up will be shown live on ESPN2 at 8:00 p.m., so you don't have to miss any of the action! Tune in to see a re-match of Saturday's All-Star Game when East All-Stars Becky Hammon and Ann Wauters take on West MVP Sheryl Swoopes.

The Liberty will be back at The Garden on Friday. New York hosts the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. Come support your home team when All-Star Katie Smith and the Lynx invade The Garden! As an added bonus, the first 5,000 fans through the door on Friday will receive a FREE Liberty mousepad, courtesy of Hebrew National.

Great seats are still available! Purchase yours now at the MSG Box Office, by phone at 877-WNBA-TIX or online at nyliberty.com.

See you Friday at The Garden!

The Match-Up

New York travels to Houston on Tuesday to face the Comets ... Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. at the Toyota Center ... This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season ... The Liberty is currently 7-7 (.500) after an 89-79 win over Connecticut on Thursday.

All-Time History vs. Houston (11-6)

New York has a winning all-time record against the Houston Comets ... Two of the original WNBA teams, the Liberty has won 11 of the 17 games the teams have played since 1997 ... The teams met twice in 2004 and New York won both games.

Up Next

The Liberty will play at The Garden on Friday at 7:30 p.m. when the Minnesota Lynx comes to town ... The team then heads west for a four game road trip ... The Liberty plays Seattle on July 19; Phoenix on July 21; Sacramento on July 22 and finally Minnesota on July 24.

Team Notes

STARRING BECKY AND ANN

Liberty players Becky Hammon and Ann Wauters participated in the 2005 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday ... Eastern Conference starter Hammon shined, posting 18 points, six rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes ... Wauters came off the bench to record four points, three rebounds and a blocked shot in 13 minutes ... The East fell to the West, 122-99.

DOUBLE SCOOP

Opponents have been getting a double dose of center Ann Wauters and guard Becky Hammon ... Wauters' 23 points on Thursday against Connecticut was the ninth consecutive game that she has scored in double digits ... Wauters has scored in double figures in 12 of the 14 games the Liberty has played so far in 2005 ... Hammon's 20 points against the Sun was the sixth straight game she has put up double figures ... She has done so in 11 of the 14 games this season .... All that point production is paying off: Wauters leads the team in scoring with 14.2 ppg, while Hammon is just behind her at 13.6 ppg.

MEETING ADJOURNED

When the Liberty battled the Sun on Thursday, the game featured a meeting of two members of a very elite WNBA club ... New York's Vickie Johnson and Connecticut's Nykesha Sales 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 Sun, 89-79 ... Johnson had eight points and two rebounds in the game, while Sales posted nine points and three rebounds.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Liberty continues to enjoy a home court advantage over the Sun ... The Liberty is now 8-3 against Connecticut in New York ... The team's latest win against Connecticut came on Thursday when the Liberty defeated the Sun, 89-79.

PAINT BY NUMBERS

Almost half of New York's points in Thursday's win over Connecticut came from the inside ... The Liberty scored 44 of its 89 points in the paint ... The 44 points inside is a new season high ... New York's previous 2005 highest scoring from the paint was 36 points, which the team put up on June 1 in Washington.

I'LL LEAD

Thursday's win against Connecticut was a see-saw game, as control of the game went back and forth between the Liberty and Sun ... The lead changed hands 11 times -- the most in a game this season ... Previously the highest number of lead swaps in a game was nine, which happened twice ... Both the May 26 game against Indiana and the June 1 game in Washington featured nine lead changes.

PROTECTING THE ROCK

The Liberty had just four turnovers in the Sun game on Thursday ... That mark is an all-time franchise best ... The previous low for turnovers in a game was six, which the team recorded against Detroit on July 24, 2004 and in Los Angeles on June 18, 1998 ... Prior to Thursday, the 2005 low for turnovers was 10, set on June 10 in Indiana.

SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT

New York shot .550 from the field on Thursday, just .004 shy of a season high ... The team connected on 33 of the 60 field goals it attempted ... The best field goal percentage so far this season is .554, which the Liberty shot for on June 1 in Washington.

RACK ‘EM UP

The Liberty posted a whopping 89 points in the win over Connecticut on Thursday ... That mark is a team best for 2005, far eclipsing the previous high ... New York's season scoring high previously was 77 points, which the team did twice ... The Liberty scored 77 points on June 1 in Washington and on June 21 against San Antonio.

THREE'S A CROWD

The Liberty's stifling defense kept the Connecticut offense from shooting the long ball ... New York held the Sun to a mere .125 shooting percentage on three-pointers on Thursday ... The Sun connected on just one of the eight threes it attempted ... New York's defense did not give up the three-pointer until there was just over two minutes remaining in the game ... The .125 three-point percentage is the second lowest for a Liberty opponent this season ... The team held Indiana to .100 from beyond the arc on June 10.

POURING IN THE POINTS

Ann Wauters continues to put up career numbers this season ... Her 23 points on Thursday set a new career high ... Her previous career best was 20 points, which she has posted on two occasions ... Wauters first recorded her career high when she played for the now-defunct Cleveland Rockers on June 30, 2002 against Utah ... She just recently tied that mark when she put in 20 points against San Antonio on June 21.

LUCKY NUMBER EIGHT

La'Keshia Frett tied her season high in scoring on Thursday ... She netted eight points in the win over Connecticut ... She had previously recorded eight points on June 21 against San Antonio.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A HALF MAKES

Becky Hammon turned up the heat in the second half against the Sun on Thursday ... She scored 19 of her 20 points in the second period ... That is the most by a Liberty player in a half so far this season.

HARD TO GET INTO THIS CLUB

For the fourth time in the last five games, Vickie Johnson will play a fellow member of the exclusive 3,000 point club .... On Tuesday she will go up against Houston's Sheryl Swoopes ... Johnson has recently played fellow 3,000-ers 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) and Katie Smith in the 3,000 point club.

DO I KNOW YOU FROM SOMEWHERE?

The Liberty will be greeted by two familiar faces in Houston on Tuesday ... Former Liberty players Tari Phillips and Edwige Lawson both play for the Comets now ... Phillips donned a Liberty jersey from 2000-2004 ... Lawson joined the Liberty for training camp this year and played in three games before being waived.

ROCKY TOP CONNECTION

New York's Loree Moore will also go up against a friendly face on Tuesday ... She will play former teammate Michelle Snow ... The two attended the University of Tennessee ... Snow graduated in 2002, while Moore just graduated in 2005 ... The two led the Lady Vols to the Final Four in 2002, the one year they played together.

BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK

A Liberty win on Tuesday will give New York a winning record in Houston ... New York is currently at the .500 mark all-time against the Comets in Houston ... The Liberty has won four of the eight games the two teams have played in the lone star state, so a win in tonight's game will give the Liberty an all-time winning record in Houston.

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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.

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