The New York Liberty took on the Fever in Indiana on Friday night with a tough battle on their hands. Despite a losing record, the home team put up quite a fight. Ultimately, New York was able to outlast their opponents for a one-point victory in regulation. Here's the latest Liberty vs. Fever game recap including top performers plus a look at the WNBA standings for these teams and who they'll play next on the schedule.
WNBA game recap
In tonight's win, the New York Liberty received a 25-point game from Tina Charles. The WNBA All-Star shot 10-for-19 for the game and also dished out four assists.
Bria Hartley scored 17 points including a 3-for-3 performance from downtown, while Shavonte Zellous had 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists in the victory.
The Indiana Fever were led by 19 points from forward Natalie Achonwa on 8-for-10 shooting while also getting seven rebounds on the night. Tiffany Mitchell and Candice Dupree each added 14 points in the losing effort.
After the first quarter, New York held a five-point lead, but the home team surged back to take a halftime lead 49-43 over the Liberty. New York kept on fighting, taking the third quarter 24-21 and the final quarter 18-14. In the final 1:30 of the game, Tina Charles was double teamed down low but managed to kick the ball out to Hartley who hit a wide open three.
That gave New York an 83-82 lead. Sugar Rodgers added two free throws with 11.2 seconds to go. Despite a layup by Indiana with three seconds to go, time ran out on them, and the Liberty escaped with an 85-84 win.
The Fever had the better shooting night with a 48.5 percent rate from the field. The visiting team went 29-for-65 and shot at a rate of 44.6 percent including a 43.8 percent rate for three-point shots.
New York was able to win the battle of the boards 37-21 with Kia Stokes coming off the bench to grab ten rebounds in 23 minutes.
Standings & what's next
With Friday's win, the New York Liberty are now 11-10 overall and 4-6 on the road. The team is surprisingly just 1.5 games behind the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics for the Eastern standings lead.
Next up, the Liberty are on the road against the Chicago Sky with game time set for 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday.
The Indiana Fever are now seven games below .500 at 8-15, with a 5-6 record at home. The team is now outside of the playoff picture, as only the top eight teams in the league will qualify. They get a chance for a bounce back win in their next game as they'll play at the Connecticut Sun. That game takes place Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.