Fever 77
Liberty 44
Last night wasn’t quite the worst offensive performance in Liberty history, or even their most lopsided loss of the year. But that’s more an indictment of their sorry season than solace in their play, because, make no mistake, they stunk up the Garden in a 77-44 rout at the hands of Indiana.
The Liberty shot just 31.3 percent in, by far, their lowest-scoring game of this disappointing season, now 9-23. It was only a point better than their lowest-scoring game ever at home, and seemingly turned even their loyal fans against them.
With two minutes left, the hardcore few who’d stayed serenaded the retired Teresa Weatherspoon, seated baseline, with “We want T-Spoon! We want T-Spoon!” Whether they meant in the front office or back on the court is unclear, but what’s obvious is that the team is a wreck in need of repair.
“[Despite] being in Manhattan, we couldn’t find water anywhere. We couldn’t throw it in the ocean. We had plenty of open shots and couldn’t even draw iron on some of them,” said Becky Hammon, who had seven points in 17 minutes, her first action – other than an 11-minute cameo – in a month after injuring her ankle.
“It was bad offensively, bad defensively,” she said. “We don’t want to go the next eight months having that thought in our minds, the fans’ minds or management’s minds. We’ve got to get better.”
They thought they had. After bottoming out at 4-20 following a club-record 11-game skid, the Liberty had won five of seven and hoped to close out well. But with only two games left, it will be hard to erase the memory of this sad season.
They fell behind 11-0 from the start, got outscored 21-5 in a third quarter that saw them give up a fast-break layup on a jump ball and muster a club-record-low five points.
Said coach Pat Coyle: “We couldn’t catch, pass, or shoot.”
Ex-Liberty forward Tamika Whitmore, who had a game-high 14 points, said she’d never seen the Garden like this.
“It’s hard to watch them go through it. I say a prayer for them and wish them the best,” she said. “It’s like watching in slow motion. They’re not on the same page as a team.”