Lynx-Liberty Preview
The longest losing streak in New York Liberty history has finally ended. Now, they'll try to build on that much-needed victory Wednesday night against the visiting Minnesota Lynx. Tina Charles scored 21 points to help New York (1-4) halt a 17-game losing streak with Sunday's 88-78 home victory over the Aces. Bria Hartley added 17 points as the Liberty held Vegas to 35.4 percent shooting en route to their first victory since beating Chicago on July 15. "It was nice to finally get one," Hartley said. "We knew we'd get one soon." New York's slide was tied for the third-longest losing streak in WNBA history, but it's now a thing of the past. And the victory is something the Liberty would like to see more of as they attempt to build some confidence from the experience. "Everything came together," said Charles, who ranks among the league leaders with 23.2 points per game. "That's us having poise and recognizing where we needed to get better at - and we did that this game." The Liberty now try to win back-to-back games for the first time since July 11 and 15. New York lost all three meetings last season with Minnesota (4-2), which looks to bounce back from an 89-85 home loss to the Sparks on Saturday. Lexie Brown scored 21 off the bench and Sylvia Fowles topped the 5,000-point mark with 20 and had 13 boards, but the Lynx committed 20 turnovers and found themselves playing behind most of the game on a day the team retired the jersey of longtime star Lindsay Whalen. "Hopefully in New York, we're going to shoot a shot before we turn it over," coach Cheryl Reeve told the Lynx's official website. "We're going to play fast and shoot a shot before we turn it over." Falling to the Sparks wasn't the only loss Minnesota suffered over the weekend. Rookie forward Jessica Shepard is done for the season after tearing the ACL in her right knee against Los Angeles. Shepard was providing some solid contributions while averaging 4.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists. "Jess is a great person," said fellow Minnesota rookie Napheesa Collier, who scored 18 against the Sparks. "This is a really rough time, and no one wants to go through this, but we're all here for her and trying to be as supportive as we can." Charles had 32 points and 15 rebounds during New York's 85-82 loss at Minnesota in the team's most recent meeting July 24. Hartley, meanwhile, is set to leave the Liberty to play for France at the EuroBasket tournament this summer. |