Liberty set to face Dream in East finals

Sep 5, 2010 - 12:12 AM By VIN A. CHERWOO AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Liberty have rebounded from the second-worst season in franchise history and are back in the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years.

After outlasting the Indiana Fever in three games in the opening round of the playoffs, the Liberty will face the fourth-seeded Atlanta Dream in Game 1 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

New York finished 22-12 to set a franchise record for wins a year after compiling 21 losses. The remarkable turnaround came after an offseason roster overhaul in which the team added Cappie Pondexter, Nicole Powell and Taj McWilliams-Franklin, and then traded for reserve forward Plenette Pierson early in the season.

The Liberty got off to a slow start, struggling to a 7-9 record at the All-Star break. However, they were the WNBA's top team in the second half, going 15-3, including a franchise-record 10-game winning streak.

"We understand each other a lot better than we did in the beginning of the season," Pondexter said. "And overall, our defensive intensity has stepped up tremendously. Coach (Anne) Donovan has stressed it from the beginning of the season ... and that's what we've done in the second half."

Pondexter, who teamed with Diana Taurasi to help Phoenix win two titles in the last three years, was second in the league in scoring (21.4 points per game) behind Taurasi - who won her third straight scoring title.

Pondexter was New York's big scorer in the opening-round series as well - averaging 27.3 points against the Fever - but the Liberty got key contributions from reserves Essence Carson (17 points in Game 1) and Kia Vaughn (13 points in Game 3) in their two wins. Vaughn got extended playing time in the finale with starting center Janel McCarville sidelined due to a sprained left ankle.

"She stepped in and we didn't miss a beat at all," Pondexter said. "Essence has been stepping up the whole second half of the season. Whether that's getting defensive stops or coming in and knocking shots down. That's what we need, that's what this team is all about, players stepping in and filling roles."

With McCarville's status uncertain for this series, Donovan knows Vaughn's play will be important again.

"If Janel is down, we're still at that three-post rotation," Donovan said, "and (Vaughn) coming up big really helps us in particular in this next matchup because Atlanta runs so much."

Two years after finishing with a WNBA-record 30 losses in their inaugural season, the Dream earned their second straight playoff berth and reached the conference finals for the first time. Atlanta opened the season with 14 wins in 18 games and was in first place late in the season before faltering down the stretch and losing six of its last seven.

Playing like they had earlier in the season, the Dream swept first-place Washington in the conference semis - using a 26-0 run during one stretch in Game 2.

"Seeding doesn't matter when it comes to the playoffs," Atlanta's Iziane Castro Marques said. "Everyone comes to play. ... Every team is tough, so you can't worry about the seeding. We all are tough, so you have to just come ready to play."

Atlanta will have had plenty of time to get ready as it hasn't played since finishing off the Mystics on Aug. 27.

Reigning rookie of the year Angel McCoughtry (21.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists) - who finished tied for a distant second behind Mitchell for the most improved player - and Castro Marques (16.9 points) are a strong scoring duo for the Dream, second in scoring behind Phoenix.

"It's a 1-2 punch, but everyone contributes on this team," McCoughtry said. "We all have our strengths that make this team great. It's like superheroes. Some can fly, some are strong. We all have our different gifts that bring us together and make us great."

Sancho Lyttle (12.8 points, 9.9 rebounds) and Erika DeSouza (12.4 and 8.3, respectively) helped the Dream lead the league in rebounding.

Atlanta and New York split the four meetings in the regular season, with each team winning once on the road.

After playing in four WNBA finals in the league's first six years, the Liberty are looking to return to the championship round for the first time since losing to Los Angeles in 2002. This year's team has four players - including Powell (2005 with Sacramento), McWilliams-Franklin (2008 with Detroit), and Pierson (2006, '08 with Detroit - who have won titles with other teams, and Donovan believes their experience helps the entire team's mentality.

"It really helped us down against Indiana," she said. "Our crew had all been there, and now we've been through a Game 3 together. With every experience, the individual experiences are now becoming a collective team experience, which is going to help us with every round."