AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- Vickie Johnson scored four of her season-high 22 points in the final minute as the New York Liberty posted their first road win of the season, a 73-69 triumph over the Detroit Shock. The Shock took a 69-68 lead with 74 seconds left on two free throws by Dominique Canty. But Johnson sank a running jumper 20 seconds later and Canty was unable to convert a layup opportunity at the other end.

"I'm happy that coach (Richie Adubato) had the confidence in me to let me take that shot," Johnson said. "That's what I've been working on. I've just tried to get my rhythm back. That's the key. You have to feel comfortable that the shot's going to go in."

"That's the play we wanted at the end," Shock coach Nancy Lieberman-Cline said. "We had the open look and she (Canty) just didn't knock it down."

Johnson drew a foul with 9.7 seconds to go and hit both free throws for a 72-69 lead. After the Shock missed a 3-point attempt, Becky Hammon made a free throw for the final margin.

Johnson added 12 rebounds and three assists and Tari Phillips had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty, who had dropped their first three road games. New York also won for just the second time in five games at the Palace of Auburn Hills, where a loss in 1998 cost the team a playoff berth.

The Liberty were without starting small forward Crystal Robinson, who has missed three straight games with a left ankle sprain.

Canty finished with 22 points and Wendy Palmer 14 for the Shock, who have dropped two of three to open the season.

"In the first two games, I didn't have a good lift on my shot," Canty said. "I worked with the coaches and it felt really good tonight. If I can hit the jumpers early, it opens the rest of my game."

Phillips had 14 of her points in the first half.

"Tari played the kind of basketball I thought she could play when she came here," Adubato said of Phillips, who was signed last week. "She was all over the glass, she shot 9-for-13 and she had a great basketball game inside and out."

"My teammates have lent me a lot of support," Phillips said. "I really needed that. They made my transition a lot easier. The coaches pulled me aside and just told me to contribute the little things offensively and defensively and the rest of my game would come together."