NEW YORK LIBERTY (11-10) at CHICAGO SKY (8-15)
Sunday, July 30 • Rosemont, Ill. (Allstate Arena) • 6:00 PM (ET)
TV: MSG
New York will look to pick up consecutive road victories for the 1st time this season when it faces the Chicago Sky on Sunday afternoon at AllState Arena at 5 PM (CST). The Liberty came back to beat the Indiana Fever 85-84 on Friday night, while the Sky dropped a tightly contested home game against the Phoenix Mercury 86-80 as Stefanie Dolson scored a career-high 29 points. It is the 2nd meeting of the year between New York and Chicago, with the Sky winning 78-68 at The Garden on July 14.
QUICK HITS
The New York Liberty fell to the Phoenix Mercury 81-69 on Sunday afternoon to fall to 8-8 heading into a 3-game home stand that leads up to the WNBA All-Star Break. The Liberty was coming off a 79-70 win at Seattle, but was unable to get open shots to fall as Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi combined for 50 points in a Mercury win. Tina Charles led the way for New York, posting a 2nd-straight game with 29 points; she currently ranks 2nd in the league in scoring at 20.8 ppg. The Liberty won the season series with Phoenix 2-1.
Tina Charles was voted as a All-Star starter in the front court for the Eastern Conference it was announced on Tuesday. For Charles it is the 5th All-Star selection of her career and the 3rd time she has been tabbed as a starter. She ranks 1st in the Eastern Conference in scoring and is 2nd in rebounding.
New York opens a 3-game home stand at Madison Square Garden starting on Friday night, where it has posted a 5-3 record so far in 2017. After the All-Star break, the Liberty will hit the road for 5-straight.
The Liberty will be facing the Chicago Sky for the 1st time this season. Chicago and Indiana are the only two teams in the league that New York has yet to face in 2017.
KEY MATCHUP
The two finalists from the WNBA All-Star 3-point contest in Sugar Rodgers and Allie Quigley will get to go head-to-head yet again as the Liberty faces Chicago. Quigley has continued her red hot shooting since play resumed after the break, nailing 4-of-8 from downtown against the Mercury on Friday night. Rodgers continues to pace the Liberty from 3-point range, knocking down 42 triples this season, shooting .344 from 3-point range.
LAST MEETING
New York fell behind 23-17 after the 1st quarter and was never able to come all the way back falling 78-68 to the Sky back on July 14. Tina Charles posted monster numbers for the Liberty with 23 points and 19 rebounds, coming one shy of what would have been her 5th-career 20 point/20 rebound performance. Stefanie Dolson led the Sky with 23 points, shooting 10-of-14 from the field and hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
LIBERTY FACTS & FIGURES – KEY NUMBERS
3.5
Epiphanny Prince is averaging 3.5 spg over the last two games, including a season-high 4 steals at Minnesota on 7/25. She ranks 7th in the WNBA averaging 1.6 spg this season.
5
Points Tina Charles needs to move past Crystal Robinson for 4th place in franchise history in scoring. Charles has 2,297 points as a member of the Liberty, 5th most in franchise history, while Robinson sits at 2,301
17
Bria Hartley tied her season-high of 17 points in the win at Indiana on 7/28. She shot 6-of-8 from the field and hit all 3 of her 3-point attempts.
.409
The Liberty is leading the WNBA in defensive field goal percentage at .409. New York has led the league in defensive shooting percentage in back-to-back seasons.
55.4
Tina Charles has posted a double-double in 55.4 percent of her career games played. She has 139 double-doubles in her career and leads the Liberty with 10 double-doubles this season.
15
New York erased a 15-point 2nd half deficit to come back in beat Indiana 85-84 on 7/28. It was the largest deficit overcome for a win this season, and the largest since digging out of a 15-point hold in the 4th quarter at Minnesota on 6/29/16.
A GOOD START
Since rejoining the starting lineup against the Mystics on July 16, Bria Hartley has scored in double figures 3 times, averaing 12.3 ppg, the 2nd-best clip on the team over the previous 4 games, while shooting .545 from the field and 9-of-17 (.529) from 3-point range. She matched her season-high of 17 points in the win at Indiana on July 28, as the Liberty improved to 6-1 when she scores in double figures.