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| Monday, August 27 |
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| Sting recover from another bad start Associated Press | |||
NEW YORK -- In a game befitting of what the Sting went
through this season, Charlotte overcame a start so bad that words
like 'horrible' and 'dreadful' didn't adequately describe it.
Allison Feaster made two late 3-pointers, Dawn Staley led her
team back from its woeful first half and the Sting -- who
lost 10 of their first 11 games before turning their season around
-- defeated the New York Liberty 48-44 Monday night to advance to
the WNBA Finals.
"We were 1-10, but we weren't a 1-10 team," Staley said. "I'm
glad everyone got to see us play like an Eastern Conference
championship team."
In the lowest scoring playoff game in league history, the Sting
won despite shooting 19 percent in the first half, getting little
from Game 2 star Andrea Stinson and going the first seven minutes
of the game without scoring a point.
They became the first team in six tries to defeat the Liberty on
their home court in an elimination game and denied New York its
fourth trip to the finals in five seasons.
The Sting will open the best-of-3 finals at home Thursday
night against Los Angeles, which beat Sacramento 93-62 Monday night
in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
"I don't think we've made believers out of anybody yet,"
Staley said.
The visiting team won all three games in the best-of-3 series.
Feaster made a 3-pointer with 2:54 left to give the Sting the
lead for good, then made another 49 seconds later for a 46-42 lead
with 2:05 left.
"I told her to be our Reggie Miller, and she hit those two 3s
that put us over the top," Staley said.
Tari Phillips missed two free throws for New York with 1:09
left, but Teresa Weatherspoon sneaked in from behind to grab the
offensive rebound and fed Sue Wicks for a layup.
After Crystal Robinson stole a reckless pass by
Staley, the Liberty had the ball with 33 seconds left and a chance
to tie or go ahead.
Tammy Sutton-Brown blocked a driving shot by Vickie Johnson,
leading to a jump ball that New York controlled with 10.3 seconds
left. Johnson got free for a 14-footer that missed, and Tamika
Whitmore missed a putback. The ball went out of bounds off the
Liberty, and New York had to foul twice to send Charlotte to the
line.
That ran the clock down to 1.4 seconds, and Stinson made
both free throws to send her teammates into a screaming, leaping
tizzy.
"It was a dirty game, a tough game, and this was a hard-fought
title," Feaster said.
Stinson finished with only five points, while Feaster had 14.
Johnson led New York with 13. Weatherspoon was scoreless for the
second straight game.
"It you told me we'd hold Stinson to five points and lose, I
wouldn't believe you," Liberty coach Richie Adubato said. "They
shot 15-for-16 from the foul line and we were 2-for-6, so there's
your game."
Whether it was the pressure of the moment or the intensity of
New York's defense, nothing went right for the Sting for the first
seven minutes of the game. They were held scoreless over that span,
missing their first 10 shots to fall behind 9-0.
"I think we were still poised at that point. They weren't
shooting all that great, and we knew our defense would get us back
in the game," Feaster said.
Feaster came up with a steal and a layup to break the drought
with 12:58 left to give Charlotte its first points, and Staley got
the Sting back into it almost single-handedly.
Scoring her team's next eight points and then its final four of
the half, Staley had 12 at the break as the Sting overcame its
5-for-26 shooting to tie the game at 21-21.
Staley was 4-for-6 in the first half while her teammates were a
combined 1-for-20.
Feaster began the second half with a 3-pointer and Staley
followed with a 15-footer for a five-point lead, and the Liberty
were forced to play catch-up until Robinson scored off a steal by
Weatherspoon to make it 37-37 with 5:35 left.
The previous lowest scoring WNBA playoff game was New York's
51-45 victory over Cleveland last summer. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories | |
AUDIO/VIDEO   Allison Feaster knocks down a pair of 3-pointers to clinch the game for the Sting.avi: 1098 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem Crystal Robinson splits the defense and hits the scoop shot.avi: 1035 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem The Liberty come up empty with 10 seconds left on the clock.avi: 1732 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN Cable Modem | |
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