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Liberty-Dream Preview

Jul 11, 2015 - 5:16 PM The last time the New York Liberty won four straight games, they handed the Atlanta Dream a 22-point loss almost exactly four years ago.

They'll try to do it again Sunday in Atlanta, and this time the Liberty are also riding a five-game winning streak over their Eastern Conference foes.

After Thursday's 79-76 overtime win at Washington, New York (7-4) is on the doorstep of its first four-game streak since July 1-13, 2011.

That was the last Liberty team to finish over .500, but this one has the benefit of Tina Charles. Settling into her second season in New York, the center had 21 points and 10 rebounds and became the 10th-fastest player in league history to reach 3,000 points.

Her offense is down some this season at 15.6 points per game on 38.8 percent shooting, but those numbers are on the rise in the last three games with marks of 21.0 and 44.6.

Some of the scoring pressure has been alleviated by Sugar Rodgers, who scored 15 and is averaging 14.1 in her last seven after putting up 4.5 over her first four.

New York also figures to benefit from the return of Epiphanny Prince, who played her first game with the club after missing 10 while taking part in the Eurobasket 2015 tournament with Russia. The former Chicago guard had 12 points in 30 minutes off the bench.

"It feels good to finally be home, get a chance to play with my teammates, try to catch up on everything and get a smooth transition," Prince told the team's official website.

The Liberty can also move four games over .500 for the first time since the end of 2011 with a third win this season over the Dream (5-7) after winning the final three meetings of 2014. Atlanta has scored 68.5 points and shot 32.8 percent in this year's matchups while leaning heavily on Angel McCoughtry's 25.0 points per game across the series losing streak.

Atlanta sits at the bottom of the East as the only team under .500, though the conference's leaders have yet to separate themselves much with the Dream just 2 1/2 games back of second-place New York and three off Connecticut's pace.

The Dream are seeking a third win on a four-game homestand after Tuesday's 85-75 loss to Tulsa. Most of their success has come at Philips Arena with a 4-4 record, though they're averaging 73.0 points and shooting 24.1 percent from 3-point range on the homestand.

McCoughtry had her second-worst shooting effort of the season against the Shock, going 8 of 28 for 25 points, but she's averaged 25.0 and shot 40.4 percent in the last four.