NEW YORK LIBERTY (11-10) at SAN ANTONIO STARS (3-21)
Tuesday, Aug. 1 • San Antonio, Texas (AT&T Center) • 8:00 PM (ET)
TV: MSG
The New York Liberty will put its 2-game road streak on the line when it faces the San Antonio Stars on Tuesday night at the AT&T Center, in the only trip to San Antonio for the Liberty this season. The Liberty is in the midst of a 5-game road trip, and is coming off wins at Indiana and Chicago, while San Antonio lost to the Phoenix Mercury 81-64 on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
QUICK HITS
• The New York Liberty used a big 2nd quarter run to create separation and then held on for an 86-82 win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena. Powered by a strong effort from its bench, New York opened the 2nd with 10 unanswered points on the way to building an 11 point lead. Tina Charles (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Kiah Stokes (10 points, 16 rebounds) both posted a double-double for the Liberty.
• New York has won consecutive road games for the 1st time this season, picking up victories at Indiana and Chicago. The Liberty is also back to 2 games over .500 for the 1st time since June 23.
• Tina Charles finished with 15 points in the win over Chicago to move past Crystal Robinson (2,301) for 4th place in Liberty history. Charles now has 2,312 points as a member of the Liberty,
• The Liberty assisted on 8 of its 1st 9 field goals in the win over Chicago en route to a season-high 25 assists as a team. There were 9 players that recorded at least one assist for New York, led by Tina Charles who posted 5 assists.
KEY MATCHUP
Isabelle Harrison has been enjoying an impressive season for San Antonio, averaging 11.6 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game. She will face tough competition in the paint against Tina Charles, who is 3rd in the league at 20.6 ppg, and 2nd with 10.0 rebounds per game. In the 1st meeting of the year, Harrison found a great deal of success, coming off the bench to play 26 minutes while scoring 15 points.
LAST MEETING
It took a balanced offensive effort from the Liberty to pick up a 73-64 win over the San Antonio Stars on the Opening Day of the 2017 season at Madison Square Garden. Tina Charles (12 points) and Epiphanny Prince (11 points) led 5 Liberty players who scored in double figures. Monique Curry, who has since been traded to the Phoenix Mercury scored a game-high 23 points to pace the Stars. Moriah Jefferson and Kelsey Plum both missed the game due to injury.
LIBERTY FACTS & FIGURES – KEY NUMBERS
56
The number of points that Tina Charles needs to move past Becky Hammon (2,367) for 3rd place in franchise history in scoring. Charles currently ranks 4th with 2,312 points.
.533
New York shot a season-best 53.3 percent from 3-point range in the win over Chicago on July 30, sinking 8-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Liberty had not shot over 50.0 percent from three in a game this season.
25
New York dished out a season-high 25 assists as a team in the win over Chicago on July 30. 9 different players had at least 1 assists and Tina Charles recorded a team-high 5 dimes.
.413
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.
55.6
Tina Charles has posted a double-double in 55.6 percent of her career games played. She has 140 double-doubles in her career and leads the Liberty with 11 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.
POSTING UP
Center Kiah Stokes has been a powerful presence in the paint over the last two games, hauling in double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games in addition to posting her 3rd double-double of the season in the win over Chicago on July 30 when she had 10 points and 16 rebounds. Over the last two Liberty road wins, Stokes is averaging 8.0 ppg and 13.0 rpg. She also blocked 3 shots against the Sky, which matched a season high and she is averaging 2.5 bpg over the previous 2 contests.
SOMETHING IN RESERVE
Since making a change to the starting lineup before the game against the Mystics on July 16, the Liberty has gone 4-1 while being invigorated by increased production from its bench. Last season, New York ranked 4th in the WNBA with 28.3 bench points per game. Entering the game against Washington, the Liberty was last in the league, averaging just 14.8 ppg from its reserves. That changed with a 41 point effort from the 2nd unit, and New York followed that up with 29 points from its bench, surpassing 20 bench points in consecutive games for the 1st time this season. Against Chicago on July 30, the Liberty set another new season high with 42 bench points. The Liberty is now averaging 18.0 ppg from its reserves.
EARLY DIVIDENDS
Prior to July 16 the Liberty had failed to reach the 20-point threshold in the 1st quarter in 6-straight games, and topped 40 1st-half points just once over that stretch. Since making a change to the starting lineup, New York has posted at least 20 points in 5-straight games, and is averaging 43.2 points in the 1st half. New York posted its highest scoring 1st quarter (30 points) against Washington on July 16, and its highest scoring 2nd quarter of the season (26 points) at Chicago on July 30.
SHARING IS CARING
In its 86-82 win at Chicago on July 30, the Liberty recorded an assist on 8 of its first 9 made field goals, and finished with a season-high 25 assists as a team. It was forward Tina Charles leading the way with 5 assists, and 9 different players recorded at least 1 assist in the win. The large number of players providing assists is common for the Liberty, which features 6 players averaging between 2.0 and 3.3 assists per game, with Epiphanny Prince leading the way with 3.3 apg. New York ranks 10th in the league averaging 16.1 assists per contest.