INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – JUNE 18, 2016 – The New York Liberty continues its second three-game road trip of the month when it faces the Indiana Fever at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast locally on MSG Network.
New York is currently on a season-long three-game winning streak, having won 80-72 at Connecticut on Thursday night. The Fever dispatched San Antonio on Friday night. In the first meeting of the year between these two teams, New York grabbed a 91-59 win at Madison Square Garden, its largest victory over the Fever in the history of the series. However, the Liberty will be searching for its first win at Indiana since 2013.
HEADLINES
• Behind a monstrous performance from Tina Charles the Liberty was able to hold off the Connecticut Sun, 80-72, on Thursday night to run its current win streak to three in a row and improve to 7-4. Charles tied a career-high with 32 points, shooting 13-of-25 from the field while making a pair of 3-pointers. She was one of four players in double figures for New York. The Liberty closed strong, ending the game on a 10-2 run after an Alex Bentley 3-pointer tied the game with 2:35 to play.
• Swin Cash became the 14th player in WNBA history to reach 5,000 points, with a drive to the hoop in the first quarter at Connecticut on Thursday night. She is one of just two players, Tamika Catchings being the other, that has amassed 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists in a career.
• On Thursday, Tina Charles was named one of four finalists for the 2016 Sports Humanitarian of the Year Award for her continued community work through her Hopey’s Heart Foundation. As a finalist, Tina receives a $25,000 grant for her charity. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in LA on July 12.
• The Liberty is looking for its first win at Indiana since July 23, 2013. New York has lost six straight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and is 1-9 at Indiana over its last 10 games.
PLAYER TO WATCH
It has to be Tina Charles right now, who is on a roll even by her high standards. Over the past two games, Charles is averaging 30.0 points per game, and is coming off a career-best tying 32 points in the victory over the Sun. She tied the WNBA season-best mark (which she had already set) with 13 field goals on Thursday, and is shooting 23-of-44 (.523) from the field during that stretch.
Charles has also been heating up from downtown, with five 3-pointers over the last two games, three more than she had in her career heading into this season. Can she make it three in a row with a shot from 3-point range? She has never done it before, but she is shooting 5-of-8 from long distance in New York’s last two contests.
STAT CENTRAL
Tanisha Wright has turned in three-straight strong performances distributing the basketball, and now ranks 14th in the WNBA, averaging 3.5 assists per game. Over the past three contests, she has racked up 15 assists, including a season-high six at Connecticut on June 16, averaging 5.0 assists per game during that stretch with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
With its 91-88 victory over the Dallas Wings on Jun 14, the Liberty hit the 90-point mark for a second game in a row, having come off a 90-75 win at San Antonio three days before. It was the first time New York scored 90 points in back-to-back games since June 2011. Over the last five games the Liberty is averaging 84.8 ppg while shooting .461 from the field, compared to the season averages of 81.9 ppg and .436 shooting as a team.