NEW YORK LIBERTY (4-9) vs. WASHINGTON MYSTICS (9-5)
Thursday, June 28 • Washington DC (Capital One Arena)
7:00 PM (ET) • TV: League Pass, MSG+
The New York Liberty nearly rallied back from an early deficit against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, but they could not complete the comeback, falling 83-69 at home. They will look to end a three-game losing streak when they take on the Washington Mystics for the first time this season Thursday.
QUICK HITS
Tina Charles’ 19.4 points per game rank eighth in the league (as of 6/27).
Charles’ 6.9 rebounds per game are tied for 12th in the league (as of 6/27).
Kia Nurse’s is tied for fourth among rookies with 10.8 points per game (as of 6/27).
Bria Hartley is 11th in the league with 4.0 assists per game (as of 6/27).
Brittany Boyd’s 4.6 assists per game would rank sixth in the WNBA, but her nine appearances don’t qualify (as of 6/27).
The Liberty have failed to hit the 70-point benchmark three times this season, including twice in the past two contests.
New York has just one win on the road this season (6/2 at Indiana).
The Liberty and the Mystics both rank towards the bottom of the league in rebounding per game at ninth and tenth, respectively.
New York and Washington last met in the 2017 WNBA playoffs, when the sixth-seeded Mystics upset the third-seeded Liberty in the second round.
KEY MATCHUP
The Liberty’s Tina Charles and the Mystic’s Elena Delle Donne, a pair of former MVPs, have nearly identical stat lines this season. Charles is averaging 19.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists a game, while Delle Donne puts up 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per contest. Both scored 18 points the last time these two teams met.
LAST MEETING
On September 17, 2017, in a single-elimination second-round playoff matchup, the Mystics upset the Eastern Conference-leading Liberty, 82-68.
Kristi Toliver led the Mystics with 32 points, including a WNBA playoff-record nine 3-pointers. Elena Delle Donne added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Tina Charles paced the Liberty with 18 points. It was the second consecutive season that New York was a three-seed and lost its first postseason game.
OPPOSING SNIPERS
The Liberty have fallen victim to the three-ball of late, allowing 20 makes from deep at a 51 percent clip over the past two games. In those contests, two players (the Sparks’ Riquna Williams and the Mercury’s Diana Taurasi hit seven shots from behind the arc, individual-highs by a Liberty opponent this season.
A HISTORIC SEASON CONTINUES
Tina Charles continues to move up the WNBA scoring ladder this season; With a layup in the first quarter, she scored the 5,014th point of her storied career, surpassing Taj McWilliams-Franklin to move up to 18th all-time. The forward is now 25 points away from passing Tangela Smith to move into 17th place.
PASSING PACE
Brittany Boyd’s 4.6 assists per game would rank sixth in the WNBA, but the point guard is a game short of qualifying for the league leaderboard. Her court vision has been especially great of late; she has averaged 7.8 assists per game over the last four, and she’s had more than two turnovers just once in that span.