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Liberty open season with OT win in Atlanta

Jun 5, 2011 - 10:02 PM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Plenette Pierson ended with 25 points and 10 rebounds, as the New York Liberty downed the Atlanta Dream in overtime, 94-88, in the season opener for both clubs.

Nicole Powell netted 17 points and Cappie Pondexter chipped in 12 points and 11 assists for New York, which is coming off a franchise-record 22-win campaign last year.

Iziane Castro Marques scored 19 points and Sancho Lyttle filled the stat sheet with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Atlanta, which lost to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA Finals last season.

There were 13 lead changes and 15 ties in the rematch of last year's Eastern Conference finals, and the game appropriately went to extra time after both teams made big buckets late in regulation.

Powell drained a three-pointer to tie the game, 77-77, with 8.8 seconds remaining, and Lindsey Harding countered with an 11-footer to give the Dream the lead.

But the bucket came with 3.2 seconds left, leaving enough time for Sidney Spencer's 17-footer to tie things again with just 2/10ths of a second left on the clock.

New York started OT on an 8-2 run and held on in the final minute.