In the past 10 games, no team has been hotter than the New York Liberty. On Friday night, they recorded their ninth-straight win with an 81-69 victory over the visiting San Antonio Stars. Tina Charles and Epiphany Prince led the way for the home team who still has a shot to catch Connecticut for the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. Here's the latest Stars vs. Liberty game recap including top performers, statistics, a WNBA standings update, and what's next for these two teams.

NY wins ninth-straight

Despite a relatively even game through the first three quarters, the New York Liberty pulled ahead in the final quarter with a 16-9 finish.

Tina Charles scored 16 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists. Guard Epiphany Prince also had 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting and recorded six boards and four assists. Kia Vaughn and Shavonte Zellous each scored 10 points as well.

The Liberty shot 43.7 percent for the game and snatched a total 37 rebounds compared to just 32 for San Antonio. The Stars shot at a rate of 41 percent overall and had 12 turnovers, which was more than double what the home team had all game. New York's bench also outscored San Antonio's 27-11 for the game.

The San Antonio Stars led by as many as five points in the first quarter after Kayla Alexander's layup. The Liberty would finish the quarter 6-1 to tie things up after one.

In the second half, New York outscored the visitors 22-19 and basically never looked back, although the Stars got within one-point a few times.

In the losing effort, rookie Kelsey Plum led the San Antonio Stars with 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Center Kayla Alexander had 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go with nine rebounds.

Alex Montgomery had eight points and 10 rebounds, while Kayla McBride scored seven points and eight assists.

Standings & what's next

With nine-straight wins now, the New York Liberty are the hottest team in the WNBA ahead of the 2017 playoffs. The team is 21-12 overall and 13-4 on their home court at Madison Square Garden. They'll close out their season on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Eastern Time when they visit the Dallas Wings. A win on Sunday will match their franchise record for most consecutive victories at 10.

The San Antonio Stars drop to 7-26 overall and just 1-15 on the road. The team appears headed for another top draft pick when the next WNBA Draft arrives. The Stars will finish out their regular season with a 4 p.m. Eastern Time game at the Indiana Fever on Saturday.
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