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  Friday, Jul. 28 7:30pm ET
Liberty standing tall with four to go
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

CHARLOTTE (AP) -- Tari Phillips and Vickie Johnson scored 15 points apiece Friday night as the New York Liberty beat the Charlotte Sting 66-56.

Tari Phillips
Tari Phillips scored 15 points to pace the Liberty on Friday.

New York (16-10) boasts the best mark in the Eastern Conference and earned its ninth win in 10 games. The Liberty hold a 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Cleveland for the top spot with four games remaining.

Phillips grabbed 11 rebounds, and Johnson had 10 for a double-double. Tamika Whitmore had 13 points for New York.

Charlotte Smith led the Sting (7-19) with a career-high 17 points. Andrea Stinson was held to 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

New York's starting frontcourt outscored Charlotte's 43-9 and outrebounded them 22-7.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half until a barrage of 3-pointers by Smith and Stinson helped the Sting to its largest lead of the game at 28-20.

New York came storming back to score the final seven points of the half and cut the Sting's lead to 28-27 at halftime.

Led by Whitmore and Phillips, the Liberty then scored 11 of the first 15 points in the second half to open a 38-32 advantage.

Charlotte cut the lead to 57-54 with 2:35 remaining, but New York hit nine consecutive free throws down the stretch, including four by Phillips.

The Liberty finished 22-for-26 from the line.

 


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WNBA Scoreboard

RECAPS
Cleveland 80
Detroit 60

New York 66
Charlotte 56

Minnesota 68
Miami 44

Indiana 73
Portland 58

Phoenix 65
Seattle 55

AUDIO/VIDEO
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 New York's Tari Phillips goes baseline for two.
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