Double-Doubles From Charles And Stokes Power New York Liberty Past Chicago 86-82

CHICAGO, ILL. – JULY 30, 2017 – The New York Liberty (12-10) picked up an 86-82 win at the Chicago Sky (8-16) on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena. Tina Charles (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Kiah Stokes (10 points, 16 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles for the Liberty, who picked up consecutive road wins for the 1^st time this season.

 New York blew the game open with a 10-0 run to start the 2^nd quarter. Powered by a strong 2^nd unit, the Liberty outscored Chicago 17-2 to open the 2^nd and take an 11-point lead. From there the Sky would recover and keep the margin to single digits the rest of the way. Chicago used back-to-back threes from Cappie Pondexter and Kahleah Copper to pull within one 65-64 in the 3^rd, but Sugar Rodgers answered with a 3 on the other end to push the Liberty advantage back to four, and the Sky were no closer than 2 the rest of the of the way.

New York continues its 5-game road trip at San Antonio on Tuesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 PM (ET) at the AT&T Center.

 

Downloadable Highlights

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uyr0m71u08vo3ta/561a5445-6c96-4609-9a57-49c9efa237a0.mp4?dl=0

 

New York Liberty notes

• New York picked up consecutive road victories for the 1^sttime this season and improved to 5-6 on the road
• New York has won 4-of-5 dating back to July 16
• The Liberty assisted on 8-of-9 field goals to start the game and finished with a season-high 25 assists as a team with 9 different players recording at least one assist
• Kiah Stokes scored 10 points and had 16 rebounds to post her 3^rddouble-double of the season; 2^nd-straight game with double-digit rebounds and also blocked 3 shots
• Tina Charles finished with 15 points to move past Crystal Robinson (2,301) for 4^thplace in Liberty history. Charles now has 2,312 points as a member of the Liberty
• Tina Charles posted her 11^thdouble-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds
• Liberty bench scored 17 points to start the 2^ndquarter as the Liberty went on a 17-2 run, which included the 1^st 10 points of the period
• New York finished with 26 points in the 2^ndquarter for its highest 2^nd quarter performance of the season
• Led by Sugar Rodgers (14) and Kiah Stokes (10) the Liberty bench finished with a season-high 42 points
• Sugar Rodgers finished with 14 points and hit 4 3-pointers, her highest 3-point tally since nailing five at Dallas on June 16
• Rebecca Allen matched her season-high of 8 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers
• New York improved to 11-6 when outrebounding an opponent (37-28 on Sunday)
• The Liberty improved to 11-4 when scoring more 2^nd-chance points, holding a 15-2 edge against the Sky
• The Liberty is now 9-1 when holding a lead heading into the 4^thquarter

 

Head Coach Bill Laimbeer

 

(On the message for the final minutes of the game…)

 

“Just play our solid defense, don’t give them any three ball looks. If we keep them in the interior, we have good length, we can bother their shots…obviously we have to score on the other end too. You know we just got the job done.”

 

(On the bench play…)

 

“Our bench is a quality bench, they’ve been waiting to get some quality time and to show what they can do. Everything clicked for them tonight in the second quarter. All our starters were cheering them on and they played outstanding basketball, moved the ball very well. Everybody contributed, especially Sugar and Stokes, the two big leaders in that unit, and they played very well. “

 

Liberty Center Tina Charles

 

(On scoring a team-high of 15 points…)

 

“I don’t think anything was working well for me offensively. I think my team did a great job just collectively bringing the energy. I think the second unit came in and did everything we have been asking of them all season long. They stepped up. They scored when needed too. They got stops when needed too. It was a great overall win. I think Kiah Stokes played tremendously for us. This game wasn’t about me. I know most nights, sometimes it seems it is in the stats sheets, but this was a collective win and I’m so happy for my players. Just growing as we go along.”

 

(On being on the road for 5 games…)

 

“A time to lock in. You never know how the playoffs are going to be. You might not have home court advantage, so it’s a time to grow up on the road…being able to connect and build chemistry…build trust knowing we know how to weather storms. If someone is not going off offensively, you still have to be there defensively. Just lock into the game and stay focused.”

 

Forward Kiah Stokes 

 

(On receiving praise from teammates after tonight’s game…)

 

“I just know my role. I know they drafted me to be a defensive stopper and rebounder…block some shots, that’s what I tried to do tonight…any way I can help defensively. I just tried to be in the right spots at the right time.

 

(On bench play tonight…)

 

“I know we can’t rely on our starters to play 30 plus minutes a game. It happened last year, Tina was averaging 36 minutes. We can’t have her doing that for us to be successful in the long run. We made it a point for everyone to step up and do their part…don’t have to try to do too much. Just do what you know how to do and do it well. I think that helps our whole team.”