• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Silver Stars-Liberty Preview

Jul 26, 2010 - 10:17 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

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

Miserable finishes sent the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver Stars to defeats in their most recent games.

Both clubs look for more complete performances when they conclude their season series Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Liberty (11-11) were trying to sweep a three-game road trip Sunday but allowed Atlanta to go on a late 11-0 run in losing 82-75. New York missed five shots and committed two turnovers during the scoring drought before guard Leilani Mitchell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We kind of lost it the final 5 minutes," said guard Cappie Pondexter, who scored just three of her 26 points in the fourth quarter. "We made some mistakes and had a couple of turnovers, which led to transition baskets for them."

The Silver Stars (8-14) also succumbed to a poor finish Saturday, allowing visiting Chicago to score the game's final 11 points to fall 75-72.

"It was a missed opportunity," forward Chamique Holdsclaw said. "It was a couple of mental mistakes. This one hurts. We had this game in our hands."

San Antonio, 3-8 on the road, is opening a three-game trip and could use more production from forward Sophia Young and guard Becky Hammon, the team's top two scorers at 14.7 and 13.7 points per game, respectively.

They scored eight each against the Sky after combining for 26 in a 74-72 win at Minnesota on Thursday.

Hammon, fourth in the league with 5.3 assists per game, will try to re-establish her success against her former team. She's averaging 21.8 points over her last eight meetings - six wins - versus New York but was held to 15 while Young scored 17 in a 77-71 home loss May 28.

New York, 5-4 at home, is looking to complete its first season sweep of the Silver Stars since 2004.

Pondexter has been superb in the last three games at the Garden, averaging 29.0 points and 5.3 assists. She scored a career-high 40 points while dishing out seven assists in an 84-81 loss to Indiana in the Liberty's most recent home game July 18.

Pondexter, who had 21 points and seven assists against San Antonio in May, is fourth in the league with 21.2 points per game and seventh with an average of 5.0 assists.