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Fever-Liberty Preview

Jul 17, 2010 - 4:56 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Indiana (12-7) at New York (9-9), 4:00 p.m. EDT

With back-to-back victories coming out of the All-Star break, the New York Liberty hope they're beginning to establish themselves as a contender in the Eastern Conference.

Beating the Indiana Fever would certainly help bolster that belief.

New York has lost six straight meetings with the reigning East champions, a streak they'll try to snap with a fourth consecutive home win Sunday.

The Liberty (9-9) missed the playoffs last year. and appeared headed for the same fate after a 4-7 start. But they're closer to a postseason spot after winning five of their last seven, including home victories over Chicago and Washington in the last week.

Cappie Pondexter, who ranks fourth in the league with 20.0 points per game, sealed Thursday's 75-67 win over the Mystics by scoring eight points - including six free throws - in the final 2:47.

"Coach (Anne Donovan) wants the ball in my hands the last couple of seconds," Pondexter said. "I want the ball. They fouled, I know I can knock the free throws down and it just happened."

Janel McCarville was also a key presence with 16 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double in 13 games.

"It's a great win," McCarville said. "We can celebrate today, but we got to get back to work tomorrow and start preparing for the next one."

New York has been searching for a way to beat the Fever for more than two years. The Liberty dropped all three meetings in 2009, then lost 78-73 at Indiana on June 5 to open this season's series.

Shavonte Zellous sparked the Fever with a season-high 23 points in that game.

The Liberty may have a difficult time again if Indiana (12-7) plays like it did in its most recent game, an 89-70 win over Atlanta on Friday to bounce back from a rare home loss two nights earlier.

"I think we all felt a little bit better," center Jessica Davenport said. "I think we're going to build on this and carry it over."

Davenport had 17 points in fewer than 23 minutes off the bench, while Katie Douglas added 20 points, but the leader for Indiana was Tamika Catchings, who totaled 23 points, 11 rebounds and six steals.

"Everybody sent a message that we are the defending Eastern Conference champions, and it's not going to be easy to come in here and steal another game from us," Douglas said.

The Fever have gone 8-2 at home, but they're hoping to improve their performances on the road, where they're 3-0 at Chicago and 1-5 everywhere else.