Just last night the Liberty defeated the Mystics in Game 3 of their first-round series to clinch a trip to the ECF.
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No offense to Washington, but from a league visibility standpoint, having New York in the Eastern Conference finals is a boost to the WNBA.
New York center Carolyn Swords didn’t play after injuring her foot in Game 2 on Sunday which the Liberty won by 18 points.
The New York Liberty’s Candice Wiggins (2) celebrates in the wake of making a three-point shot amid the second from last quarter of Game 3 of the WNBA Eastern Conference elimination rounds at Madison Square Garden, Tuesday, September 22, 2015.
A memorable season, led by local stars Tina Charles (Queens) and Epiphanny Prince (Brooklyn), that netted the Eastern Conference title and the best record in the WNBA, will all be for naught unless the Liberty can knock off the Mystics on Tuesday night at the Garden in the third and final game of the Eastern Conference semifinals. She has been limited by injuries all season, but is anybody surprised to see her step forward during the playoffs? “I was on her, the trainer was on her, the players were on her. She’s a much better player and competitor than she was showing in the first five minutes of that basketball game”.
Trailing 72-71 with 1:46 left, Kiah Stokes hit a layup off a nifty assist from Rodgers.
Ivory Latta hit two free throws with 42.5 seconds left to cut Washington’s deficit to 75-74.
It was the proverbial “survive and advance” for the New York Liberty.
With the shot clock running down, Prince hit a 15-footer, only her second basket of the game to make it a three-point game with 20 seconds left. Game 3 is on schedule for September 29.
New York’s reserves outscored Washington 40-19. Mystics coach Mike Thibault called the rebounding differential the game’s deciding factor. Sugar Rodgers was good, Wiggins was good, Kiah Stokes was good.
Moore was just 6 for 21 from the floor, but Seimone Augustus added 16 points and Deveraux Peters scored 12 big points off the bench to push the top-seeded Lynx into their fifth straight conference finals.
The fourth-seeded Mystics are seeking to win a playoff series for the first time since 2002, when current assistant Marianne Stanley was the head coach.
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CROWD SUPPORT: New York drew an average of almost 9,700 fans in the two home games in the first round. Game 1 is on Thursday night in Minnesota. Phoenix was victorious last season en route to winning the championship.
