August 14th, 2015: New York at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Tina Charles matched her jersey number with 31 points, and Epiphanny Prince filled all the statistical columns as the Liberty fended off repeated runs from Connecticut to win 90-78.

For car accidents, wandering notes, sharing a Coke, indigestion, ridiculous shots, knee concerns, traveling fans, identifying autographs, duels, and too many geek references, join your intrepid and easily distracted blogger after the jump.


Hello once again, faithful and loyal readers! (And, I suppose, to the dabblers and dilettantes out there.) Your intrepid blogger comes to you from the aftermath of the New York Liberty's visit to Connecticut to take on the much-injured Sun. (Seriously, what eldritch abomination did Anne Donovan offend?)

As usual, you will not be getting detailed notes from the inside of the arena, since the Sun have a thing against backpacks and laptops for some reason.

School supplies drive at Mohegan; if I get to Flushing early enough, I'm bringing pencils. Also the night that Katie Douglas will be honored by the Sun. If it weren't a Liberty game, I'd have brought my Miracle jersey, but well, it's a Liberty game, so my Essence Carson jersey is tucked in my backpack. Next week, I'm sure someone will give me grief about being late to the party.

I brought pencils, and a few other things too, because that's how I roll. The trip to the bus wasn't the hard part; the hard part came after a car flipped over at the exit 15 on-ramp and halted traffic for half an hour. A two-and-a-half, maybe three, hour trip turned into just over four hours.

Connecticut is doing the #shareacoke thing with their beverage cups, which I find utterly adorable. I currently have the Connecticut Sun generic in my backpack, along with "Share a Coke with Kelsey". I really want a "Share a Coke with Chiney" cup one of these days.

Tiny anthem singer who wandered all over the map, but with style, where did you even put all that voice? So much power in such a small frame.

Plenty of Liberty fans in the house- a pleasant surprise for a Friday night, and a good omen for the 29th.

When will Connecticut learn that Bill Laimbeer gets a kick out of being the villain? Yes, play the Imperial March for him, your hate only makes him stronger. Boo him with all your power, he will only rise again more powerful than before.

I was not comfortable with Avery Warley-Talbert coming into the game as early as she did. She seemed very passive- if a loose ball is directly at your feet, Avery, perhaps you should make some effort to retrieve it? Kiah Stokes had some trouble keeping up with Kelsey Bone's spin moves- the first defensive effort was often there, but then Bone would change direction and away she went. But Kiah also came up with a couple of massive blocks in the fourth quarter when we needed them. Essence Carson's vision seemed off- a couple of really bad misses, her usual foot-on-the-line long jumper that kind of thing. She was moving well on D, though.

I never thought I'd see the day when Sugar Rodgers was afraid to shoot, but two possessions she received the ball with the shot clock running down, and both times she hesitated. That's very un-Sugar-like. The one shot she hit was big, though, extending the lead at a crucial moment. Candice Wiggins seems to be becoming more comfortable in her roles, and Bill seems to be trusting her more. She played more off the ball tonight, sharing the backcourt with Brittany Boyd. She's remarkably pesky on defense. I'm starting to wonder if she's one of those players like DeLisha Milton-Jones or Plenette Pierson who is a complete jerk on the court, but a total sweetheart off it, because she always seems to get knocked around by opposing players. Boyd was the last player off the bench, which might be messing with her confidence a little bit. She blasted Connecticut's defense at the end of the third quarter on a high-speed fast break lay-up. I'm not a fan of playing the three of them together, no matter how awesomely brilliant their conversations could be.

Carolyn Swords grows less effective as a starter by the game. I really think the bad knee has started barking at her, much as happened to Plenette Pierson as the season wore on last year. She's super slow to react and move, and she doesn't seem to be as well-integrated into the offense as she was earlier this year. If it weren't for the need to conserve Kiah's fouls, I'd say move Carolyn back to the bench where she was producing, and bring Kiah back as the starter. Tina Charles had a few moments today where were were yelling, "no, no, don't take the long jumper!" But she had many more moments where it was abundantly clear that she's an All-Star center, and that she's fluid in the paint. She just seems to find an extra step once she's down low. Swin Cash had a scary moment in the second half where she went down hard and was holding her knee, but she came back- she was stiff for a while, but came up with a basket late. I'm still worried about her for tomorrow.

Tanisha Wright was quietly, calmly, and mostly intelligently consistent. How's that for adverb abuse? She and Alex Bentley went hard at each other. You've got to love those point of pride rivalries. She provided the veteran leadership we needed to stabilize us whenever Connecticut made a run. Epiphanny Prince was on fire. She had a cold stretch in the second quarter, but even then, she made up for it with aggressive on-ball defense and good hustle. She set the tone early and finished up late.

The resiliency of the Liberty has been fantastic. Even on nights where the defense isn't there, they find ways to win. In this case, the superstars became superstars. I was actually worried that Tina was going to keep scoring- I'd run out of room on my scoresheet for two-point baskets for her!

Kayla Pedersen set one nice strong pick and hit a perimeter jumper, but those were the only impressions she left. Nikki Greene got a fair amount of time, more than I'm used to for a seven-day temp getting in her first game with a team. She was very physical- hard hits seemed to happen when she was in the game whether she was delivering them or just happened to be in the vicinity of them.

Shekinna Stricklen sure has a pretty shot. It didn't go down today, but it's still pretty. I've always been rough on Kelly Faris, since I believed- and still believe- that she only gets her chances because she's a pedigreed Husky, but her defense has improved markedly since the last time I saw her, and that was her one calling card as a professional. With roster expansion, that one strong skill might be enough to keep her employed. I like Chelsea Gray at the point more than Jasmine Thomas; she brings offensive firepower that Thomas doesn't necessarily have consistently. I'm waiting for the day when Donovan decides to try to run Gray with the starters. I do not want that day to happen against the Liberty. She's powerful and she's flashy, and she's got excellent vision.

That is not to say anything against Jasmine Thomas. She has her advantages- she's a very sticky and determined defender. And she hit shots tonight, which seemed uncharacteristic but was surely a pleasant surprise to Sun fans. Her offense seems to rely on "puck luck"- the luck of the draw, the friendly or the unfriendly roll off the iron. It's probably for the best that Alex Bentley plays for the Sun and thus is not allowed to gamble at Mohegan, because I think she uses up all her luck with those one-handed runners that always seem to fall, or with those crazy fadeaway threes. She seemed to let things get into her head by the end of the game, when she fouled Tanisha hard once or twice. Kicking people is inappropriate behavior on a basketball court. When she's not being stupid, I like her defense.

The Jennifer Lacy start worked out a lot better than one would think from the final score. She forced the defense to extend out beyond where it was comfortable, and she set screens for her teammates. That's pretty much what has been expected of her for something like ten years. I didn't realize Camille Little had been practicing her threes, but she seems comfortable out there. I think it takes away from her strength down low, but I could be wrong. Kelsey Bone looked like she wanted to show up her former team and the player she was traded for. I'm really impressed by her spin move- that's something she's polished and honed. She needs to watch those elbows, though.

Connecticut didn't have the firepower to compete tonight, but the pieces are starting to come together. I'm not sure that Donovan's the person who can put them into place, though.

Officiating was inconsistent tonight, but inconsistent both ways (Sun fans were righteously furious at a blocking call on a wild Tanisha Wright drive). Fortunately, the game ended before anyone could seriously lose their temper.

I don't think the "throw the socks at the clothesline" contest is going to come back next week. Or the "shoot free throws while wearing a foam finger" one.

It still bothers me when Faris gets more applause than All-Stars.

Katie Douglas is really doubling down on that "signing with the Fever was a lapse in sanity" thing. It plays well in Connecticut, but I hope she isn't planning on ever doing anything in the state of Indiana again.

I'm looking forward to the Tulsa game- it'll be a quick turnaround, but I think we can survive.