Liberty 67 Storm 53
No teams have been very successful in figuring out how to beat the Liberty. One way to make sure you don’t is to make them mad.
“When people take shots at us, it just makes us better,” Teresa Weatherspoon said after the Liberty beat the Seattle Storm 67-53 last night in front of 14,176 at the Garden. “We take our game to another level.”
The Liberty, who improved to 14-5 and stayed in a first-place tie with Cleveland, felt they had ample reason to get upset last night. Seattle’s 20-year-old phenom, Lauren Jackson, who has been accused of dirty play in the past while with the Australian national team, hit Tari Phillips in the head as they battled for a rebound. With the Liberty star writhing in pain on the floor, Tamika Whitmore pointed at Jackson and made her feelings known.
“I just told her that we wouldn’t tolerate that,” said Whitmore, who scored 10 points. “Lauren Jackson pretty much just punched her in the face. That wasn’t necessary.”
Whether she actually punched her was in doubt. The 6-foot-5 Jackson insisted it was an accident, but several Liberty players were sure there was intent. Phillips couldn’t tell.
“She knocked me pretty good,” said Phillips, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds. “She was overly aggressive and she caught me with an elbow just above the eye. I thought it was a little aggressive. I was mad then, but I didn’t want to get a technical.”
The Liberty already were well in control, leading 39-24 with 15:48 to go when it happened. They eventually increased the lead to 21 as they dropped the Storm to 8-11.
“I don’t know what happened,” Jackson said. “I told her I was sorry and I didn’t mean to do it.”
It was just one more bad thing that happened to Jackson last night. She was named to the All-Star game yesterday, but scored just two points on 0-for-8 shooting from the floor. The Liberty took great pleasure in shutting her down.
“We read some things that she said about us, that she was going to kick our butt when she got [to America],” said Whitmore. “That kind of stuff motivates me to death.”
Whitmore and Phillips held down Seattle’s post players and limited the Storm to just 29.5 percent shooting. After taking a 19-8 lead, the Liberty led by double digits the rest of the way. Much of their offense was provided by Becky Hammon, who scored a team-high 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
“This was as tenacious as our defense has been all year,” said Liberty head coach Richie Adubato.
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Rebecca Lobo, who had struggled to recover from knee injuries that kept her grounded for nearly two seasons, scored her first points at the Garden this year.