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Sky-Liberty Preview

Aug 13, 2009 - 4:45 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Chicago (11-12) at New York (8-14), 7:30 p.m. EDT

The Chicago Sky have four road games left this season, and two of them are this month at Madison Square Garden.

The Sky will try to improve upon the worst road record in the league Friday night when they wrap up a four-game trip by visiting the last-place New York Liberty

Chicago (11-12) is 3-10 on the road, matching Sacramento's record as the worst in the WNBA. The Sky are 1-4 all-time at New York, where they will also visit Aug. 30.

Their latest road loss was a 64-58 defeat at Detroit on Sunday. The Sky shot 33.3 percent (17 of 51) and committed 20 turnovers.

"We have to be disciplined and stronger with the ball," Chicago coach Steven Key said. "We are lackadaisical with the ball, back on our heels and we allowed the pressure to get to us. We can't continue to do that."

That contest was Armintie Price's last with Chicago. Price logged 11 scoreless minutes and the 2007 WNBA rookie of the year was dealt Wednesday to Atlanta for guard Tamera Young, who averaged 2.7 points for the Dream this year.

"The addition of Tamera to our roster will be huge for us," Key said. " We've been struggling under the basket, and it's been obvious that our rebounding isn't where it should be, Tamera is 6-foot-2 and will help contribute to crashing the boards."

Rebounding wasn't a problem Sunday for Chicago star center Sylvia Fowles, who had 18 boards and 10 points. Fowles only took four shots as the Sky had trouble getting the ball to their third-leading scorer.

New York (8-14) finished a 2-3 trip with a 65-61 victory at Los Angeles on Tuesday. The Liberty limited the Sparks to 2-of-21 shooting in the fourth quarter.

"We just kept fighting and executing, doing whatever we could to win the game," New York All-Star guard Shameka Christon said.

Liberty center Janel McCarville was held to eight points, well below the 18.8 she had averaged in five previous games. McCarville will likely draw the task of battling Fowles in the interior.

Chicago guard Erin Thorn will play at MSG for the first time since leaving the Liberty to join the Sky as a free agent this year. Thorn spent her first six seasons with New York.

New York outscored Chicago 29-14 in the fourth quarter in a 77-70 road win on July 22 in the teams' first meeting this year.

The Liberty have lost three straight at home, allowing 86.7 points per game in that span.