NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Just two days after losing by 19 points at Atlanta, the New York Liberty were determined to make up for their poor performance. <\/p>\n
Cappie Pondexter and Plenette Pierson scored 17 points each to lead the Liberty past the Dream 76-67 on Sunday, handing Atlanta its first loss this season. Kara Braxton added 14 points to help New York (3-2) improve to 3-0 at home. Leilani Mitchell, the Liberty's 5-foot-5 reserve guard, had a team-high seven rebounds, Pondexter added six boards and six assists, and rookie Kelsey Bone also had six rebounds. <\/p>\n
''We were all disappointed as a unit in Atlanta,'' Pondexter said. ''The way we played there was no excuse. We were not happy. They got going earlier there and this time we definitely wanted to take that away from them. I thought Kara Braxton, Plenette Pierson, Bone, (Toni) Young, they all came out and did a collective job as posts to neutralize their two bigs. Kudos to them, they did awesome.'' <\/p>\n
Pondexter, 3 for 13 from the field through the first three quarters, scored 10 points on 4-for-6 shoting in the fourth. <\/p>\n
''I just kept telling myself, 'No matter what, everybody struggles, just keep finding a way to get it done,''' she said. ''Inside, I kind of got going. I made a basket and things opened up offensively for me with my jump shot.'' <\/p>\n
Trailing by four points at the start of the fourth quarter, New York outscored Atlanta 25-12 over the final 10 minutes. <\/p>\n
Young's jumper in the final minute of the third quarter pulled the Liberty to 55-51. Pondexter had a three-point play and Alex Montgomery made a layup with 8:10 remaining to put New York ahead one. <\/p>\n
Thomas' bank shot gave Atlanta its last lead, 59-58, with 7:15 left. Braxton followed with a layup to put New York back ahead, Mitchell hit a 3 and Pondexter scored on a jumper to stretch the lead to 65-59 with 5:15 to go. <\/p>\n
The Dream didn't get closer than four points again. Braxton made back-to-back layups and Pondexter hit a 3 to increase the Liberty's advantage to 72-61, their largest lead of the game. <\/p>\n
''I thought we were a pretty sound defensive ball club,'' Laimbeer said. ''We cut off all the drives, took care of business with second shots in the second half. First half kind of hurt us, second half we got most of the rebounds.'' <\/p>\n
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Pondexter, Pierson lead Liberty past Dream 76-67<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Just two days after losing by 19 points at Atlanta, the New York Liberty were determined to make up for their poor performance Continue reading