Becky Hammon joins Liberty Ring of Honor

It was a great night for the New York Liberty franchise; it welcomed six-time WNBA all-star and former Liberty point guard, Becky Hammon into its Ring of Honor. Hammon joins Liberty Legends, Vicky Johnson, Rebecca Lobo, Theresa Weatherspoon, Sue Wicks and Kym Hampton. Becky Hammon is living proof that hard work beats talent. She entered the WNBA undrafted in 1999, and had to fight for a spot on the New York Liberty. Not only did Hammon become one of the best players to play for the Liberty franchise, she made history twice in the past two years. Hammon is the first woman to obtain a spot on the coaching staff of an NBA team and she is the first female to be a head coach for an NBA summer league team. Becky's induction to the Ring of Honor is well deserved; she is a great role model to the future generation of women’s basketball and an inspiration to all.

Liberty Snags Eastern Conference Top Spot

The night became even more special when the current leading ladies of the Liberty gained another home court win. This game allowed the Liberty to stand one full game ahead the Washington Mystics, securing their number one spot in the Eastern Conference. After dominating the second half of the game, New York proved that they can become contenders for a position in the playoffs. Tina Charles was on fire from start to finish, dropping a total of 29 points against the Storm, one point shy of her season high. Charles carried her team in both the first and second quarters scoring 14 points going into the half.

The Storm held onto the lead for the majority of the first quarter keeping the Liberty down by as little as three points. With just :02 seconds remaining in the first quarter, New York forward/guard, Essence Carson was able to squeeze in a layup to tie the game (23-23). The Liberty had just a one-point lead entering the half. Both teams struggled to make scoring plays during the second quarter and it wasn’t until after the half that the Liberty and point guard Epiphanny Prince showed up and balled out. New York quickly turned their one-point lead into 14 points after going on a 13-0 run in the first 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Prince dropped 9 of her 11 points in the third, helping her team take their biggest lead of 17 points.

The Storm battled it out through the fourth, managing to bring the Liberty’s lead down to single digits with a little over 7 minutes remaining in the game. However, the Liberty never allowed the Storm to take another shot at the lead. They walked away with a sixth straight win over the Storm and their 7th home court win. Though the Liberty secured the number one spot in the Eastern Conference, head coach Bill Laimbeer isn’t too sure if that will be enough for the team to be considered contenders for the playoffs.

“I don’t know yet,” said Laimbeer. “We still have a long way to go, the Eastern Conference is tough; got a lot of teams fighting in the Eastern Conference but I do know the first half of our season gave us a leg up and gave us some breathing room, but we can’t relax.”

With 14 more games left in the regular season, the Liberty does indeed have a long way to go. To the team’s advantage, more than half of those games will be played on their home court. The Liberty will return to Madison Square Garden on August 11th, where they will take on the 2014 Eastern Conference champs, the Chicago Sky for the third time this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm.