Today, the New York Liberty, a WNBA team, issued a statement that Tanisha Wright will not be joining the team during the 2017 WNBA Season.

“I want to inform our fans that Tanisha Wright has decided she will take time away from the game to rest during the 2017 WNBA season,” Isiah Thomas, New York Liberty President, said via a press release. “Tanisha has the full support of the New York Liberty organization as she does what is best for her health and future.”

“Tanisha has played a pivotal role in all our success both on and off the court over the past two seasons,” Thomas continued. “As a leader in the locker room and the community; she has been a tremendous ambassador for the WNBA and our franchise. We wish her all of the best as she takes time to rest and recover, and hope to see her back in a New York Liberty uniform in the future.”

A graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, Wright was drafted by the Seattle Storm (WNBA) 12th overall in 2005. Wright helped the Seattle Storm win its second championship in 2010. On February 2, 2015, Wright signed as a free agent with the New York Liberty. In between WNBA seasons, Wright has played on overseas teams in Israel, France, Poland, and Turkey, where she is currently playing according to Wikipedia.

Tanisha Wright, Kiah Stokes, and Tina Charles gained history-making stats; Sugar Rodgers came up big with points at the right time

It was yet another memorable night in the World’s Most Famous Arena as the New York Liberty took on the Dallas Wings. Coming off a win 15-point road win against the San Antonio Stars, the ladies of New York defeated the Wings 91-88. This victory wasn’t the only accomplishment that took place in the arena on Tuesday night, Liberty vet Tanisha Wright recorded her 1,000th career rebound making her the 11th player in WNBA history to record 2,500 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds. Kiah Stokes also moved higher in the ranks clinching the 6th spot in New York Liberty history with 89 blocks. To top it all off Tina Charles hit a career high after she nailed three 3-pointers against the Wings, she never played a game where she completed more than one shot from beyond the arc.

The Liberty had an explosive first half capped off by two early shots made by Carolyn Swords, who has been  indispensable in the paint this season. However, the team struggled in the early moments and was down by as much as eight points. The Wings were able to capitalize off of New York’s miscommunication which allowed them to score four points off of the Liberty’s four turnovers. Dallas stars Odyssey Sims and Karima Christmas demonstrated their skills from beyond the arc early in the game after nailing two treys apiece. Nearly half of Dallas 26 points in the first half came from -three pointers. However rising Liberty star, Sugar Rodgers carried the team on her back once she displayed her skills from the three point line with less than two minutes remaining in the quarter. She soon followed up with the and-1 to tie it up 22-22 before the start of the second quarter. Rodgers scored 8 of her 18 points in the first quarter alone.

After only scoring 6 points in the first quarter, Charles led her team with 11 points in the second to outscore the Wings by 10 before the half. The Liberty was able to slow down the Wings defense forcing them to commit five turnovers and shoot 45.9% from the field. The Libs walked into the locker room with a 6-point lead (56-50). After soaring through the third the Liberty led by as much as 10 over the Wings, but the 4th quarter became a nail biter when Dallas came back and maintained a 4-point lead in the final minutes. Stokes served as the saving grace for her team after she deflected a lay-up attempt by Wings forward Christmas. This led to a sweet trey by Rodgers which sparked off a 6-0 run for Liberty. Charles led all scorers with 28 points and her late jumper in those final seconds bought the Liberty to their 91-88 win over the Dallas Wings.

With this win, the Liberty improved to a 6-4 record putting them second in the eastern conference. They hope to add to their two-game winning streak when they face off against the Connecticut Sun on  tonight. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern standard time.

Liberty’s Sugar Rodgers Comes off the Bench and is the Game’s Impact Player

After a tough three-game series, the New York Liberty is moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 13 years. This year’s team is one of the best group of women to ever play for the Liberty franchise. In case you’ve forgotten, this team has the best record in franchise history, as well as, in the WNBA for this season. The Liberty is the best defensive team in the league and they were also the first team to reach 20 wins in this year’s regular season. This group of seasoned veterans and flaming hot rookies have deemed themselves unstoppable.

WNBA Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 3 Recap

Last night, New York defeated the Washington Mystics 79-74 in the final game of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Overall, the game was close but the players of New York came through and made big plays when it counted the most. In the opening quarter, Washington managed to outscore the Liberty by 10 points. Ivory Latta nailed three trey’s contributing 9 points to her team within the first seven minutes of the game. The Liberty struggled offensively in the first quarter giving Washington the opportunity to take control of the game.

The momentum of the game changed once Sugar Rodgers and Candice Wiggins came off the bench for the Liberty. Wiggins and Rodgers entered the second quarter dropping two threes apiece.

Wiggins was 4-of-4 from the 3-point range bringing her game total to 12 points. However, it was Rodgers who had the biggest impact on the team’s win. Rodgers went 10-of-10 from the free throw line and was the team’s second-leading scorer of the night with 20 points. Although Rodgers hasn’t had the best game stats all season long, her performance in last night’s game demonstrated the hard work she puts in when she is off the court. In a post-game interview Liberty center, Tina Charles raved about her teammates’ constant effort on and off the court.

“Sugars in the Gym 24/7, we have practice she comes back that night she never let up, she never complains, she just wants to keep getting better.” said Charles.

Rodgers wasn’t the only Liberty player who came scorching off the bench, rookie center, Kiah Stokes stepped up to the plate and solidified the team’s win after she nailed one of the most important blocks of her professional career.

New York Liberty rookie Kiah Stokes dishing out one of her famous blocks

With just seven seconds remaining and only three points separating the two teams, Washington’s secret weapon, Ivory Latta shoots for three in hopes to tie the game but Stokes deflected the shot leading to a defensive rebound by Liberty’s top vet, Tanisha Wright. Not only did Stokes save the game for the Liberty, she had a total of 13 rebounds for the night.

For the second game in a row, the Liberty’s bench has burned bright, contributing a total of 77 points for the team’s two semifinal wins. If New York wants a shot at being named the best in the East, they must keep up their momentum, as they take on the Indiana Fever in another best of three series. New York is under pressure to make history once again this season. The team has not won a conference title since 2002. The Liberty will take a shot at history tonight as they face-off against Indiana for game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Liberty’s Sugar Rodgers Much Needed Spark to Dash the Dream

Last weekend, the New York Liberty clinched its first playoff berth since the 2012 season. Being among the WNBA’s best teams comes with a price and the education continues for the Bill Laimbeer squad. Due to their current position atop of the Eastern Conference, the Liberty will receive every teams’ best shot and Monday night’s contest was no different.

The New York Liberty: New York’s Only Relevant Professional Basketball Team

New York’s only relevant professional basketball team needed overtime to outlast the Atlanta Dream yesterday evening, 80-75, and in doing so, received a strong performance from reserve guard, Sugar Rodgers. In 27 minutes of play, Rodgers led the Liberty in scoring with 23 points, a career-high and shot 5-12 from behind the arc, which included the most significant trey of the night. After trading baskets for the first three minutes of the OT period, Rodgers, drained a triple with 1:54 remaining, over the outstretched arms of Angel McCoughtry to increase the Liberty’s lead to five, 76-71.

It signaled the Liberty’s third straight win, improving its regular season record to 21-8, the best in the Eastern Conference while the Dream fell to 12-18, on the outside looking into the postseason. On a night where the Liberty didn’t play their best basketball, Rodgers bailed her team out time and time again with timely hoops. Other than her last points which sealed the Liberty’s fate, Rodgers connected on two three’s in the 4th which helped the Liberty comeback from what was a 10 point deficit late in the third quarter.

While starters Epiphanny Prince and Tanisha Wright struggled from the field, combining for 5 of 18 shooting, Rodgers contributed the scoring punch off the bench that proved to be the winning formula and head coach Laimbeer credited Rodgers performance to her improved work ethic.

Rodgers Shows Hard Work Pays Off

“She showed me that hard work pays off,” Laimbeer said following the win. “She has been in the gym night and day for the last 10 days. I sat her down and told her that she wasn’t working hard enough and somebody else was getting her minutes and she goes to the gym three times a day. It paid off; she’s a much different player today than she has been the whole season and everybody in that room was happy for her.”

Kiah Stokes WNBA Rookie of the Month Playing Like a Championship Veteran

In addition to Rodgers, Laimbeer also praised rookie Kiah Stokes who did a little bit of everything, producing a line of 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals. “That’s who she is, she’s just a glue player,” Laimbeer said. “Once she started playing we realized the defensive intelligence was off the charts. She’s always in position, always in help defense, can guard anybody in the gym and recovers well.”

And Laimbeer isn’t the only person who has recognized Kiah’s game. The WNBA rewarded Stokes with the Rookie of the Month Award for efforts during the month of August. In August, Stokes led the Liberty to an 8-2 record, leading all rookies in rebounds (8.3), field goal percentage (.56) and blocks (1.5). Stokes and Brittany Boyd, along with Rodgers represent the youth of the Liberty which is surrounded by a respected group of veterans and it’s one of the reasons why the Liberty is on the brink of a potential title run.

Cash, Wright and Wiggins Championship Experience Will Matter in Liberty Playoff Push

Swin Cash is a three-time WNBA Champ and Tanisha Wright and Candice Wiggins have both experienced what it’s like to stand alone on the mountain as the league’s best, capturing titles with the Seattle Storm in 2010 and the Minnesota Lynx in 2011, respectively.

Tanisha Wright New York Liberty Game on August 2, 2015. Photo by Danny Karwoski Licensed under CC BY SA 3.0 via Commons

Candice Wiggins New York Liberty game on August 2, 2015. Photo Credit: Danny Karwoski. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

Having vets like Cash, Wright and Wiggins has helped the progression of the Liberty from solid WNBA squad to a consistent winner and Wiggins has enjoyed every bit of the ride thus far, even shedding light of what the Liberty must do in preparation for a deep playoff run.

“We take so much pride in working hard and pushing each other,” Wiggins shared post-game. “I’ve never personally felt this much support on a team before and it goes such a long way when you enjoy the process of getting there and you enjoy the journey and not necessarily just looking at the destination.”

And on the postseason: “We want the No.1 overall seed, we want to do our work and I know from winning a championship, it’s all about doing your work early. The more wins you can collect, then the more it will benefit you in the postseason and we don’t want to depend on anybody else but ourselves,” Wiggins continued.

With five games left on the season, there is no time for the Liberty to relax. Three of their last five games will feature other playoff teams in the Chicago Sky, Minnesota Lynx and the Indiana Fever which will all serve as the perfect tune up for what should be an exciting playoff run for the Girls of Summer.

New York Liberty veteran Tina Charles had team-high 12 points despite loss

It seems as if the ladies of the New York Liberty are still fighting to find their team chemistry, after Wednesday’s 85-72 preseason loss to the Atlanta Dream.

The Liberty started off strong, in what can be considered a successful first half. They managed to maintain a 7 point lead after a series of baskets made by starters Kiah Stokes, Tanisha Wright and Essence Carson.

Unfortunately, the Liberty had 9 turnovers which allowed Atlanta to take the lead at the end of the first quarter. Liberty guard, Sugar Rodgers came through with a fast break layup that helped the Liberty gain a 5 point lead with 6:21 remaining in the first half. However, the Liberty fell behind at the half resulting in a 44-39 Atlanta lead.

The team experienced many difficulties during the third quarter, where the Dream took their biggest lead of 18 points after a turn-around jump shot made by rookie Samantha Logic.
It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter, when the Liberty made an outstanding turnaround with a 14-0 run. A foul charged to Logic bought Rodgers to the line where she went 1of 1, helping the Liberty bring Atlanta’s lead down to 11 points.

Though much effort was put forth by the Liberty in the remaining minutes of the second half, they failed to bring Atlanta’s lead down to single digits. Four players from the Liberty scored in double figures. Vet. Tina Charles led the pack with 12 points, Rebecca Allen (11), Sugar Rodgers (11), and Essence Carson(10). Rookie center Kiah Stokes almost reached her second double-double of the preseason finishing up with 9 points and 11 rebounds.

Following Wednesday’s game, the team made the decision to waive guard Amber Orrange and center Shanece Mckinney. Orrange was the Liberty’s second round draft pick, drafted 23rd overall. She made an appearance in both preseason games averaging 6.5 minutes per game. Mckinney played two seasons with the Liberty, after joining them as an undrafted free agent. She averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. She, too, appeared in both of the Liberty’s preseason games making one start. Head coach Bill Laimbeer made the official announcement early Thursday morning.

“I want to thank Amber and Shanece for all of the hard work they put forth during our training camp, I am excited about the team we are putting together, as we continue to prepare for opening night against Atlanta next Friday.”

New York will go on to face the Minnesota Lynx in their final preseason game on Monday night in Minneapolis. The team will return to Madison Square Garden next Friday, June 5th, to host the Atlanta Dream in the regular season opener. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30p.m.