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Saturday, Jul. 29 8:30pm ET
Delays can't keep Liberty from cruising | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NEW YORK (AP) -- Becky Hammon nearly got a standing ovation just for showing up. Many in the crowd of 16,479 at Madison Square Garden weren't sure the New York Liberty's starting five would appear before tipoff of their 81-67 victory over the Cleveland Rockers on Saturday night. The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 40 minutes because the Liberty starters were still en route from Charlotte due to stormy weather and airport cancellations. Hammon jogged oncourt first to the roar of the crowd. "They'd been waiting a long time," said Hammon, who along with four starters and coach Richie Adubato were delayed in Nashville and took a seven-seat charter to New York and ended up arriving at the Garden at 8:25 p.m. EDT. "It was a little scary because it was a smaller plane and it was really stormy," Hammon said. The team was scheduled to leave Charlotte at 9:50 a.m. Saturday after Friday's victory at Charlotte, but cancellations forced the Liberty to split up on three different flights. Despite the long travel and short five-minute warmup, Crystal Robinson had 17 points as six New York players scored in double figures. The Eastern Conference-leading Liberty (17-10) won their fourth straight and extended their lead to 2{ games over the second-place Rockers and Orlando Miracle with five games remaining. "We dug deep," Robinson said. "Teresa Weatherspoon kept us focused in the airport. We talked about the game and their personnel." New York, winners of 10 of 11 games, got 14 points from Tari Phillips. Tamika Whitmore had 12 points and Sue Wicks and Weatherspoon added 11 apiece. Vickie Johnson, held scoreless in the first half, finished with 10. "It's a testimonial to how much desire we have to win," Adubato said. "I was in the NBA 20 years, and the first 10 we flew commercial. You probably save four hours a day (if you use) charters. It makes a world of difference." A condensed season due to the Sydney Olympics and the addition of four expansion teams has meant a number of back-to-back games and travel problems around the league. In June, the WNBA canceled its first game when Washington could not get a flight out of New York to Indianapolis. Liberty general manager Carol Blazejowski said Saturday night's game was not in danger of being canceled. The league made an exception and allowed the Liberty starters to take a charter flight to make the game. "As young as this league is, (flying commercial) was a policy they made at the start," Blazejowski said. "Perhaps (now) four years later, they will re-examine it." Chasity Melvin led Cleveland (14-12) with 16 points and Rushia Brown added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ann Wauters, the No. 1 draft pick, injured her right knee in the second half but returned to the game. Leading 57-51 midway through the second half, the Liberty went on an 11-2 run, capped by Weatherspoon's steal and layup for a 68-53 lead with 5:30 remaining. The Rockers came within 10 points in the final minutes, but could get no closer. "I thought one of the keys to the game was how many points they got off our turnovers," Charlotte coach Dan Hughes said. "The had 22 points on 16 turnovers. We did not take care of the ball." New York, winner of seven straight at home, led 35-33 at halftime. The Liberty looked sluggish, shooting 2-for-9 in the opening five minutes. The Rockers led 14-4 before New York went on a 13-4 run to trim the deficit to 18-17 with 9:57 left. Robinson had seven points in the run. Cleveland opened up a seven-point lead on a layup by Wauters, but the Liberty went on a 12-5 run to tie the score at 31 on Whitmore's 3-point play. New York, which missed 13 of 16 shots during one stretch in the first half, finished 31-for-58 (53.4 percent) from the field. The Rockers have lost eight of their last nine road games. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Los Angeles 84 Houston 74
New York 81
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