Numerology: How the Liberty 'survived and advanced'

New York City, NY - It was the proverbial ‘survive and advance' for the New York Liberty. An 8-2 run over the final two and a half minutes allowed the Liberty to move on with a 79-74 victory over the Washington Mystics at Madison Square Garden. The Liberty host the Indiana Fever in game one of the Eastern finals tonight. The numbers of note...

Possessions: Washington 72, New York 73

Offensive efficiency: Washington 103, New York 108

eFG pct: Washington 48, New York 45

FT rate: Washington 26, New York 28

OREB pct.: Washington 21, New York 34

TO Rate: Washington 11, New York 11

What Washington did well....Compete. A 30-12 second quarter outburst by the Liberty wiped out a 10 point Mystic lead. Washington came out the final half ‘winning' the first four minutes with a 10-2 run to even the score and altered New York's momentum.

What New York did well -- rebound. Mystics coach Mike Thibault called the rebounding differential the game's deciding factor. In raw numbers, the Liberty owned a 34-29 rebounding edge.

Mystics enjoyed a 30-28 advantage in points in the paint. The Liberty found their touch and their perimeter game was a huge factor. They shot 7 of 14 for 50% from three. Candace Wiggins (12 points) and Suger Rodgers (20 points) combined for 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.

Scoring leaders and efficiency...

Washington: Ivory Latta 18 points (16 Eff.), Tierra Ruffin-Pratt 17 points (23 Eff.)

New York: Tina Charles 22 points (23 Eff.), Sugar Rodgers 20 points (21 Eff.)

"Tonight's win means everything for us. We worked hard all season long. I'm happy we got the win because we learned from game one. It's all about responding." - Tina Charles of the Liberty

"I thought our effort was great, but we made mistakes defensively at the end. The (Liberty) bench did a heck of a job....their bench comes in and plays basically better than their starters." - Washington Mystics coach Mike Thibault