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Christon, Liberty take down Sun in Game One

Sep 19, 2008 - 1:54 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Shameka Christon and the New York Liberty made sure the Connecticut Sun knew the regular season was over.

Christon scored 19 points and Cathrine Kraayeveld added 15 and 10 rebounds as the Liberty started quickly and held on for a 72-63 victory over the Sun in Game One of their best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday.

Janel McCarville scored 13 points for the Liberty, who will travel to Uncasville, Connecticut for Game Two on Saturday. If necessary, the Sun would host the decisive third game on Monday.

It was a big win for third-seeded New York, which ended the regular season with three losses in four games. The Liberty made sure to turn around that late-season slide and set the tone for the contest, scoring 10 straight points en route to a 14-4 lead with 3:24 left in the opening period

But the Liberty, who built a 15-point lead in the first quarter en route to a 24-11 advantage heading into the second, let the Sun back into the game in the second half. Connecticut used a 13-4 run to start the third and cut its deficit to three on two free throws from Lindsay Whalen with 5:28 left in the period.

New York then scored seven straight points to regain control of the contest, capped by a 3-pointer by Ashley Battle to extend the lead to 10 with 2:48 remaining in the third.

Tamika Whitmore scored 16 points for the second-seeded Sun, who also endured a late-season skid and now have lost for the fourth time in five games.