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.

Team Liberty follows Tina Charles’ lead to Gain Victory Over the Washington Mystics

The New York Liberty will head back to Madison Square Garden after defeating the Washington Mystics 86-68 in game two of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Liberty was in jeopardy of elimination after their double overtime upset against Washington, last Friday night. On Sunday, New York defeated the Mystics for the second time this season and the second time at the Verizon center. The Liberty has the best record in the WNBA for road wins, and its 18-point win over the Mystics proved exactly that.

New York Liberty’s Game 1 Double-Overtime Upset

The Liberty finished its regular season with the best record in the league (23-11). Having the best record helped the team receive home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. However, just three points prevented the team from winning its playoff debut at the World’s Most Famous Arena. New York took control during the first quarter of the game, leading the Mystics by as much as 10 points.

However, Washington came back with some answers for the Liberty in the second quarter, which created a narrow lead between the two teams. The teams tied 14 times throughout the game. The most crucial tie of the game came after the Mystic’s secret weapon, Ivory Latta, nailed a three-point shot with just 27 seconds remaining in normal regulation time.

Washington Mystics point guard Ivory Latta pushes past New York Liberty player to score three points.

Latta’s trey brought the score to 69-69. Liberty center, Tina Charles, completed a jump shot in the final 3 seconds almost brought her team to victory, but the shot was ruled as “no good” due to a shot clock violation. The Liberty’s small errors, 14 turnovers and 10 missed free throws, as well as, a handful of bad calls played a huge role in the team’s 86-83 Game One upset against Washington.

Game2: New York Liberty showed up and showed out at the Verizon Center

New York Liberty center Tina Charles led her team with 22 points in its Game 2 victory over the Washington Mystics. Seventeen of those points were made in the 3rd quarter alone. As a whole, the Liberty stepped up its game time performance. New York took its largest lead of 26 points late in the second half of the game, completely narrowing Washington’s chances at a comeback. The team had 12 steals, 33 rebounds and averaged 86.7% in free throws.

Additionally, 32 of the team’s 86 points came from the bench which proved that this victory was a complete team effort. Although the Liberty has a 1-4 regular season record against the Mystics, the New York team proved that it has what it takes to outplay and out-strategize Washington. If the Liberty wants to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2002, it has to take defensive control over the Mystics and play a solid offensive game.

The decisive Game 3 of the semifinals will take place tonight at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The winner of tonight’s game will take on the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will battle it out to see who is the best team in the east?

Tina Charles scored a season low 6 points in Liberty’s Loss to Mystics

The New York Liberty struggled to maintain its home-court winning streak, as it fell to the Washington Mystics (74-59) on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The team shot a season low 31-percent from the field after making a season-high of 71 attempted field goals. Essence Carson and Sugar Rodgers were the leading scorers for the Liberty with 12 points apiece. After leading the team for the past 3 games, Tina Charles scored a season-low 6 points.

New York Liberty guard Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers

Both teams experienced some trouble getting points on the scoreboard in the first quarter. It took three defensive rebounds, and 1 steal by guard Ivory Latta, for the Mystics to score its first 2 points of the game. After a strong defensive battle on the court, the teams barely made it into the double digits with a 12-12 tie at the end of the first quarter. The Liberty’s offensive decisions eventually pulled through in the beginning of the second quarter, allowing them to outscore the Mystics 9-3. However, the Mystics picked up quickly with just 2:21 remaining in the first half with a 13-0 run.

Washington managed to bring its lead up to as many as 15 points in the third quarter of the game. Although the Liberty were able to get their lead down to the single digits in the fourth, the Mystics made it nearly impossible for the Liberty to take the lead for another time in the remainder of the game.

Ivory Latta was the top scorer of the game with a total of 20 points; she also scored 3 out of 10 3-pointers for her team. Washington shot 44.3 percent and made 27 field goals which is a season high for a Liberty opponent. This was the second time that the Liberty had fallen to the Mystics this season. In the teams’ first meeting, the Liberty trailed by just 5 points. Head Coach, Bill Laimbeer believed this game exposed how much the team relies on their leading scorer, Tina Charles.

“We count so much on Tina (Charles) to score and she had a really bad game offensively... We have to find other ways to score. We’ve been getting by until tonight.”

Despite this loss bringing the Liberty down to the third spot in the Eastern Conference standings, with a 2-2 record, Guard Essence Carson keeps a positive outlook for the rest of the season.

New York Liberty guard/forward Essence Carson

“It’s a tough loss, but we will rebound from it and look to come out better. It is only the beginning.”

The Liberty will continue the remainder of its season without rookie forward, Rebecca Allen. She is out due to a cartilage injury to her right knee and will return to Australia where she will undergo surgery. The Liberty will try to grab another home court win on Friday, June 19th at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers