Team Liberty follows Tina Charles’ lead to Gain Victory Over the Washington Mystics

The New York Liberty will head back to Madison Square Garden after defeating the Washington Mystics 86-68 in game two of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Liberty was in jeopardy of elimination after their double overtime upset against Washington, last Friday night. On Sunday, New York defeated the Mystics for the second time this season and the second time at the Verizon center. The Liberty has the best record in the WNBA for road wins, and its 18-point win over the Mystics proved exactly that.

New York Liberty’s Game 1 Double-Overtime Upset

The Liberty finished its regular season with the best record in the league (23-11). Having the best record helped the team receive home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. However, just three points prevented the team from winning its playoff debut at the World’s Most Famous Arena. New York took control during the first quarter of the game, leading the Mystics by as much as 10 points.

However, Washington came back with some answers for the Liberty in the second quarter, which created a narrow lead between the two teams. The teams tied 14 times throughout the game. The most crucial tie of the game came after the Mystic’s secret weapon, Ivory Latta, nailed a three-point shot with just 27 seconds remaining in normal regulation time.

Washington Mystics point guard Ivory Latta pushes past New York Liberty player to score three points.

Latta’s trey brought the score to 69-69. Liberty center, Tina Charles, completed a jump shot in the final 3 seconds almost brought her team to victory, but the shot was ruled as “no good” due to a shot clock violation. The Liberty’s small errors, 14 turnovers and 10 missed free throws, as well as, a handful of bad calls played a huge role in the team’s 86-83 Game One upset against Washington.

Game2: New York Liberty showed up and showed out at the Verizon Center

New York Liberty center Tina Charles led her team with 22 points in its Game 2 victory over the Washington Mystics. Seventeen of those points were made in the 3rd quarter alone. As a whole, the Liberty stepped up its game time performance. New York took its largest lead of 26 points late in the second half of the game, completely narrowing Washington’s chances at a comeback. The team had 12 steals, 33 rebounds and averaged 86.7% in free throws.

Additionally, 32 of the team’s 86 points came from the bench which proved that this victory was a complete team effort. Although the Liberty has a 1-4 regular season record against the Mystics, the New York team proved that it has what it takes to outplay and out-strategize Washington. If the Liberty wants to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2002, it has to take defensive control over the Mystics and play a solid offensive game.

The decisive Game 3 of the semifinals will take place tonight at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The winner of tonight’s game will take on the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will battle it out to see who is the best team in the east?