WHITE PLAINS, NY. (September 6, 2019) – The Indiana Fever visited New York for its fourth and final matchup against the Liberty this season. In the Liberty’s final home game of 2019, New York lost to Indiana, 86-81, despite leading for three quarters.
Tina Charles led New York with 19 points and 11 rebounds, her eighth double-double of the season. She shot 9-of-23 from the field and added four assists to the Liberty effort.
In the first half, the teams began by trading baskets before New York went on a run to outscore Indiana 22-17 in the first quarter. Indiana eventually cut an eight-point Liberty lead to one point midway through the second quarter.
Back-to-back baskets for Marine Johannes with 3:02 remaining in the first half once again extended New York’s lead to a seven-point advantage. The Liberty went into the locker room up six points at the half.
Tina Charles opened the second half scoring five points in the first two minutes. An and one three point shot by Kia Nurse and a free throw by Charles gave New York a ten-point lead.
Indiana chipped away at New York’s lead before the visiting team took the lead midway through the third quarter.
A three-point goal by Marine Johannes with 4:24 remaining in the third, gave the Liberty a four-point boost ahead of the Fever. The Liberty built upon that lead, going on a 8-2 run before Indiana cut it down to six. Thanks to a three-point shot by New York guard Brittany Boyd, the home team ended the third quarter up nine points.
With 2:12 remaining, Tierra McCowan missed one of two free throws, putting Indiana down only one point. A made basket by Candice Dupree followed by a strong drive and layup by Kelsey Mitchell gave Indiana the lead back and put New York down three points with one minute remaining.
Out of a timeout with 33.2 seconds remaining in the game, Bria Hartley was called for an offensive foul, giving Indiana the possession with 28.6 left in the game.
Candice Dupree connected on one-of-two free throws with 23.4. The Liberty were unable to dig out of the deficit and lost, 81-86.
UP NEXT: New York heads to Atlanta tomorrow to play in its final game of the 2019 season against the Dream on Sunday, September 8 at 4 p.m. ET.
LIBERTY NOTES:
- New York shot 44% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc.
- Tina Charles led New York with 19 points and 11 rebounds, her eighth double-double of the season. She shot 9-of-23 from the field and added four assists to the Liberty effort.
- French guard Marine Johannes was the team’s second leading scorer, adding 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also had a career high seven assists.
- Rebecca Allen was the only other Liberty player to score in double figures adding 11 points on 5-of-9 from the field.
- Kia Nurse hit her 100thcareer three-point field goal tonight, finishing with a total of 101. She finished the game 2-of-3 from deep.
- The New York bench contributed 43 points, more than half of the team’s scoring.