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Stars-Liberty Preview

Jul 14, 2015 - 5:25 PM Tina Charles has moved past her June struggles with an outstanding three-game stretch, but she hasn't had much success against the San Antonio Stars recently.

The star center hopes to change her fortune in the series Wednesday when the New York Liberty look to snap a six-game skid against the banged-up and road-winless Stars.

Charles, averaging 17.2 points in her six-year career, scored just 10.0 per game while shooting 27.2 percent over a five-game span in June before turning things around of late.

The three-time All-Star put up 23.0 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting over the team's three-game road stretch. She scored 22 on Sunday to help New York rally from a 19-point deficit before suffering an 84-76 loss at Atlanta that snapped a three-game winning streak.

The Dream ran off nine of the game's final 11 points after Charles scored four straight to give the Liberty a two-point lead with 5:47 left. Epiphanny Prince scored 14 in her first start and second appearance for New York since missing 10 games playing for Russia in EuroBasket 2015.

Sugar Rodgers, however, looks to bounce back after finishing with three points. The reserve guard had averaged 14.1 over her previous seven games.

The Liberty (7-5) are aiming to regroup as they return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since a 79-70 win over Los Angeles on June 28. Although the Stars (3-10) are tied for the league's second-most losses, they haven't dropped a game in this series since July 8, 2011.

In her first season with New York a year ago, Charles averaged a team-high 17.4 points but totaled just 17 on 7-of-19 shooting while the Liberty lost the two meetings by a combined 26.

Kayla McBride led San Antonio with 30 points in an 80-66 home win last July. Sophia Young-Malcolm had 18 and McBride and Danielle Adams each added 14 in an 87-75 road win June 5.

The Stars, however, could be missing two of their top three scorers for a fourth consecutive game. McBride, averaging a team-high 14.0 points, is dealing with a foot injury, while guard Jia Perkins (12.1 ppg) is nursing a calf injury.

The banged-up Stars have dropped four of five overall and are 0-7 on the road.

Rookie Dearica Hamby finished with 13 points and Kayla Alexander had 11 rebounds Sunday, but San Antonio shot 29.0 percent en route to a season-low point total in a 66-49 loss at Minnesota.

After averaging 18.5 points over her previous four games, Young-Malcolm will try to get back on track after she finished with four against the Lynx.

San Antonio ranks near the bottom of the league with 70.2 points per game and 40.4 percent field-goal shooting while hitting a league-worst 25.3 percent from 3-point range.

New York was holding opponents to a WNBA-low 36.4 percent before Atlanta hit 47.3. The Liberty hadn't allowed a team to top 40 percent since June 19 versus Indiana.