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Aug 1, 2015 - 5:23 PM The New York Liberty's ascension to the top of the Eastern Conference has plenty to do with their stifling defense and ability to win the rebounding battle more often than not.

It certainly isn't because they're lighting up the scoreboard.

New York looks to bounce back from a disappointing performance by dealing the Seattle Storm a ninth straight road loss Sunday.

The Liberty (12-6) are clinging to a half-game lead over Washington in the East while leading the league in rebounding margin at 6.61 per game and defensive field-goal percentage at 37.9.

They struggled in both phases Wednesday, though, allowing Indiana to shoot 47.6 percent while being outrebounded 32-27 in an 84-72 loss that snapped a five-game winning streak.

Tina Charles scored 18 points and Epiphanny Prince added 13 for New York, which committed 21 turnovers.

"We got outrebounded, and that doesn't happen very often," coach Bill Laimbeer said. "We gave them way too many second shots. They had 19 points on second shots. That doesn't happen against us.

"We didn't play our game, and hopefully it's a good learning experience for us."

Another disappointing aspect of that defeat is the fact that New York shot an uncharacteristic 48.3 percent from the field. The Liberty rank 10th in the league in shooting at 41.0 percent - last in 3-point percentage at 27.8 - and ninth in scoring with 72.9 points per game.

They weren't at their best in the first meeting with the Storm either in an 81-77 win July 21, as Seattle shot 48.4 percent and evened the rebounding battle at 32.

Seattle is last in the league in scoring (69.7 per game) and rebounding margin (minus-4.35). Charles' 30 points helped New York overcome the Storm's rare solid efforts in those aspects as the Liberty won a fifth straight meeting.

The Storm (5-15) looked more like themselves Friday, shooting just 39.3 percent in a 67-66 loss to Connecticut to drop their third straight. Seattle is 1-10 on the road and has dropped the first two of a six-game road stretch.

Sue Bird scored 15 points and is six short of becoming the first player in WNBA history with at least 5,000 points and 2,000 assists.

"Throughout a WNBA season every team is going to have ups and downs, and we just want to make sure that if we take one step back, we want to take two steps forward," Bird told the team's official website. "For us this is a process, this whole season. We are just trying to get better every day. It's more about learning from our mistakes and improving and trying to get better."

Bird and Ramu Tokashiki had 14 points apiece and Crystal Langhorne added 13 in the first meeting with New York, which has won the last four home meetings with the Storm.