A three game winning streak came to a halt.
The Chicago Sky defeated the New York Liberty 73-64 at the Prudential Center on Sunday.
We will start with the basic numbers following the jump:
Pace:
Chicago 79 possessions
NY Liberty 78 possessions
Offensive Efficiency:
Chicago 92
New York 82
Not a relentless pace and from the Liberty's perspective, a good enough effort on the defensive side to win. Unfortunately is you manage a paltry 82 in offensive efficiency, winning will be very difficult. In this case it was not one of those rare cases when you fail to hit 85 and win.
The Four Factors:
|
|
eFG
|
FT Rate
|
Oreb Pct
|
TO Rate
|
|
Chicago
|
48
|
15
|
30
|
13
|
|
New York
|
42
|
14
|
17
|
18
|
While the respective efficiencies do not suggest an offensive work of art, both teams did enjoy an acceptable turnover rate. The factor that stands out is offensive rebounding percentage. Rebounding has been a problem coach John Whisenant is trying to address with his Liberty club. They came up short in offensive rebounding percentage and in raw numbers were outrebounded 40-29. Giving up those offensive boards extends the opposition possession and can get your personnel in foul trouble. Sky center Sylvia Fowles (10 points, 12 boards) had five rebounds on the offensive end, just one shy of the output of the entire Liberty team.
Neither team lit it up from three. The Liberty shot 5 of 16 (31%) while the Sky checked in at 5 of 15(33%). Difference was in the two point shooting category, most of which involves the paint. Chicago shot 24 of 51 (47%) while the Liberty were 20 of 49 (41%).
Rutgers Alumnae. There were several former C. Vivian Stringer players out there but both teams were paced by a former Scarlet Knight guard Epiphanny Price of the Sky. Prince led all scorers with 26 points while Cappie Pondexter had 22 for the Liberty. A few added notes regarding the leaders:
Points Efficiency Plus/minus
Prince 26 18 +12
Pondexter 22 23 -7
Pince shot 10 of 18 and did not have an assist. Pondexter went 8 of 20 from the field but saw the efficiency aided by seven assists and, a team leading two blocked shots.
The plus/minus stat was adopted from hockey. I feel it is great for that sport but in basketball, the opinion here is it lends credence over a greater period of time. One game is not a fair indication of a player's contribution. Regardless, plus/minus found the Prince-Pondexter numbers quite interesting in what ended a three possession contest.
Final shots. Leilani Mitchell struggled scoring two points while posting a -1 efficiency. Shooting 0 for 9 (0 for 6 from three) will do that to you....Kara Braxton continues to struggle as she posted a -9 efficiency in eight minutes of play....Plenette Pierson scored 2 points and had 2 rebounds in another brief 18 minutes of action...Sylvia Fowles had an impressive 18 efficiency for Chicago. The dozen boards helped as did 5 of 8 shooting from the floor.
Attendance was 5,908.