Tina Charles. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495Sports
Neither the New York Liberty nor the Atlanta Dream could get much going offensively in the first few minutes of their second matchup this season. However, the Dream (14-9) ended the first quarter on a 16-5 run and didn’t look back, ultimately coming out on top, 82-68, at the McCamish Pavilion on Thursday night.
The Liberty (7-16) held the Dream to just 31.8 percent shooting from the field in the contest. But Atlanta brought down 49 rebounds, including 21 on the offensive end, both season-highs by a Liberty opponent. New York grabbed 35 boards, but only seven of which came on offense.
With a jumper midway through the first quarter, Tina Charles surpassed former teammate Cappie Pondexter to become the franchise’s second-leading scorer. The forward has now scored 2,981 points in a Liberty uniform.
Charles finished with 11 points and four rebounds. She was the lone Liberty player to score in double figures. Brittany Boyd had a standout performance nonetheless, stuffing the stat sheet with eight points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. It was her third double-digit assist performance of the season.
The Liberty came into the matchup on a hot streak offensively, but they could not keep the momentum going. Their scoring total (68) was 22 points less than their average over their previous four games (90.0).
The loss was the Liberty’s second in a row. They will look to right the ship when they face the Washington Mystics for the third time this season on Saturday. The matchup is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. (ET) at the Westchester County Center.
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