The Liberty, who had made an early-season living on overcoming huge deficits to win games, looked as if they were poised to steal another victory yesterday.
They trailed by 13 in the game’s opening minutes and by eight with 5:30 to play in regulation, but fought their way back to force overtime and grab a three-point lead in the extra session.
But an inability to finish, combined with a pair of costly turnovers — two of 23 committed on the afternoon — allowed the San Antonio Silver Stars to escape Prudential Center with a 78-77 overtime victory.
After Katie Smith’s 3-pointer gave the Liberty a 77-74 lead with 2:04 remaining in overtime, Danielle Robinson brought the Silver Stars within one on a layup 10 seconds later. The Liberty committed turnovers on their next two possessions, and Shenise Johnson’s jumper with 36 seconds to play gave the Silver Stars a 78-77 lead.
The Liberty (4-3) could not get a quality look on the other end, and dropped their first home game, falling to 4-1 at Prudential Center.
“It’s a learning lesson for us,” said Plenette Pierson, who scored 18 points. “It’s still early in the season. We have a long road trip to go on, so we can’t dwell on this one loss.”
Early on, it looked as if the Liberty would be blown out. The Silver Stars (3-5) reeled off a 17-2 run in the opening minutes, and the Liberty committed six turnovers during that stretch.
“We came out like we were going to win the game just by showing up,” Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer said. “We started throwing the ball all over the gym.”
It put the Liberty in the familiar position of having to climb uphill for the duration of the game. Their last three victories had come on the strength of big finishes.
“We’re fighters,” said Leilani Mitchell (11 points). “No matter how big the deficit, we never give up.”