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.

Nothing can stop the New York Liberty from #BURNINGBRIGHT

The ladies of New York’s WNBA basketball team, the New York Liberty, are making strides as they begin to wrap up their regular season with just 5 games left. After defeating Minnesota 81-68, the Liberty clinched its first playoff berth since 2012. Soon after they defeated the Connecticut Sun 80-66 and became the first WNBA team to reach 20 wins this season. The last time New York reached that many wins were in 2010 when it was 22-12, which was the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. What’s amazing about this team, is that it is breaking records and making accomplishments as a unit, and individual players are setting career records and receiving league honors.

Epiphanny Prince: The Hometown Hero

Liberty guard Epiphany Prince was named Eastern Conference player of the week for the 4th time of her career, and the second time since she has joined the New York Liberty.

New York Liberty guard Epiphanny Prince defending ball against Chicago Sky.

Prince missed the first 10 games of the season due to prior obligations with the Russian National team. Nevertheless, she went straight to business once she returned to her new team, scoring 12 points off the bench in the team’s overtime win against the Washington Mystics. Since her return, Prince had just one game where she did not score in the double digits. However, she made up for the lost points when she dropped a total of 30 against her former team the Chicago Sky. Prince currently averages 15.5 points per game along with 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds. Prince plays a crucial role in the Liberty’s roster and it is evident that her seasoned skills on the court were the missing piece of the Liberty’s winning puzzle.

New York Liberty Rookies Rocking Records

Rookie center, Kiah Stokes is on fire!

New York Liberty's Kiah Stokes blocks Connecticut Suns' Kelsey Bones' shot 

Stokes was named the WNBA Rookie Player of the month. Aside from her rookie accomplishments, she recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds last week in the team’s win over the Sun. Upon entering her rookie season, Stokes struggled to get into the professional flow of the game but once she did, she became unstoppable. On July 16th, she set a franchise record with 8 blocks over Connecticut. She currently is tied for fifth in blocks for the league. However she led all rookies in blocks as well as field goal percentage and rebounds, for the month of August. This month Stokes also scored a career high of 13 points in the Liberty’s 84-63 win over the Chicago Sky. Kiah is en-route to becoming one of the league’s best defenders.

Brittany Boyd is the other rookie on the team and she, too, is coming into her own and setting career highs.

New York Liberty guard Brittany Boyd

Boyd was able to snag a starting position early in the season, but she has since gone down to the bench, but that has yet to stop her from putting on a show-stopping performance. In the Liberty’s 81-76 loss against the Tulsa Shock, Boyd managed to reach her career high of 22 points and was the team’s leading scorer. This rookie is no stranger to being in a leadership position; she led the team in points back in June after dropping 18 in the Liberty’s 73-65 win over the Atlanta Dream. Boyd is a key player for the Liberty, her speed level up and down the court along with her driving force to the basket has helped her team make multiple comebacks throughout the season. Every game she shows that it is only the beginning of her soaring career.

Scorching off the Bench

Liberty veteran, Candice Wiggins has been making an incredible impact on her team in the past few games and she continues to show why she is a WNBA champion.

New York Liberty guard Candice Wiggins

Wiggins entered the season on a slow start and was not receiving much playing time. Since the first half of the season, we are now seeing a lot more action from her and are witnessing her divine accuracy from the 3-point line. Wiggins currently averages 41.9 percent from 3-point range, almost reaching her professional career best of 45.7 percent. Wiggins never fails to come with fire off the bench. Early in the season, she contributed as many as 15 points to her team’s 89-81 victory over the Chicago Sky. Wiggins seasoning as veteran adds the perfect amount of heat to the Liberty’s team chemistry.

New York has managed to pull its record to 21-8 which is currently the best-looking record in the league. None of it could have been possible if each of the Liberty’s 11 players wasn't pushing together to become the best team that it can be. New York is looked at to be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference Finals which creates a huge target on its back. In past seasons, the Liberty was seen as an easy win for other teams in the league and now they are considered the team to beat. The Liberty is set to scorch the court and improve their home court record at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night, against the Chicago Sky. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern standard time.

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.

Losing is not an option at Madison Square Garden

For the fourth time this season, the New York Liberty has shown the Chicago Sky that there is no room for them in the winner’s circle. The team pulled out their first two wins against the Sky without the help of veteran guard Epiphany Prince, who spent 4 years playing for Chicago. After dropping a combined total of 52 points against the Sky, Prince has proven that the grass is greener on the other side. Prince has now led her team in points for the second game in a row.

She dropped a total of 22 points for the night, 10 of them were made in the first quarter alone. Rookie, Kiah Stokes also landed in the double digits and recorded her second career double-double with a total of 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Liberty are beginning to prove that they can still win games despite the performance of their leading scorer, Tina Charles who only contributed a total of 4 points to the team’s win.

Out the gate, the Liberty’s starting lineup dominated the court and displayed a great amount of chemistry that has been lacking in previous games this season. With help from the bench, New York ended the first quarter with a 9 point lead (26-17). After a sweet three made by Sugar Rodgers midway into the second quarter, the team brought their lead up to the double digits. However, the Sky turned up their defense and managed to pull the Liberty’s lead down to just 7 points before the half. Former Liberty guard, Cappie Pondexter made her first appearance at Madison Square Garden since being traded to the Sky in February. Pondexter made sure to leave her mark at the world’s most famous arena as she battled against her former team. Chicago struggled to pull through without help from their leading scorer, Elena Delle Donne who was out due to an ankle injury. Pondexter carried her team defensively and lead the way with a total of 23 points for the night.

Although a great effort was put forth by Chicago, the Liberty was sure to remind them whose court they were playing on. Not only did the Liberty intensify their defensive performance after the half, they displayed their accuracy from the three-point range. After a trio of three’s made by Essence Carson, Candice Wiggins, and Rodgers all in the third quarter, the Liberty took a 21 point lead, their largest of the night. Fortunately for New York, the three’s didn’t stop there, Brittany Boyd rose off the bench and closed out the game after she nailed a three-point shot with just 40 seconds remaining on the clock. The Liberty has now won 5 straight games at home and it stands 2.5 games in front of the Washington Mystics with a 15-6 record. New York will attempt to improve its 3-game winning streak on Friday night, August 14th, as they travel to the Mohegan Sun Arena to take on the Connecticut Sun. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern standard time.