 NEW YORK (AP) - Janel McCarville scored 17 points and Shameka Christon had 11 points and 11 rebounds to help the New York Liberty hold off the Detroit Shock 60-56 in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals Friday night.
Deanna Nolan scored 11 of her 22 points in the final 3 minutes and Katie Smith had 13 points for the Shock. Nolan had two 3-pointers and hit three free throws during the final stretch to keep Detroit close, but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left.
New York's Erin Thorn scored five points in the final minute to seal the win.
The best-of-three series shifts to Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilantifor Game 2 on Sunday, and Game 3, if necessary, on Monday night. The Shock's usual home, The Palace of Auburn Hills, is unavailable due to a scheduling conflict.
After trailing by nine late in the third quarter, the Liberty used a 12-1 run to take the lead with 5 1/2 minutes left. Ashley Battle hit a 3 from the left corner with 44 seconds left in the third, Leilani Mitchell hit a 3 early in the fourth and Ashley Battle followed with a layup along the baseline to pull New York to 42-41.
Kara Braxton hit one free throw 20 seconds later to give the Shock a two-point lead.  However, McCarville's layup with 7:13 left tied the score at 43 and Christon's jumper with 5 1/2 minutes left gave New York its first lead since midway through the first quarter.
Cathrine Kraayeveld hit two free throws to push the lead to 55-50 with 1:25 left. Nolan then hit a 3 with 37 seconds left, and Thorn followed with a driving layup 14 seconds later.
Nolan hit three free throws with 18.6 left to pull the Shock to 57-56, but that was as close as they got. Thorn hit two free throws with 15 seconds left, and then one more after Nolan missed her 3-pointer.
New York beat Detroit at home in Game 1 of the first round last year, then lost two close contests at the Palace — including by one point in overtime in Game 3.  The Shock scored eight consecutive points to push the lead to 42-33 on Nolan's steal and fast-break layup with just over a minute left in the third quarter.
The Liberty, second in the league in 3-point shooting, were 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half, and finished 4-for-14 for the game.
New York opened the second half with an 8-2 run, including 3s by Kraayeveld and Christon, to pull to 32-31 with 5:57 left in the third quarter.
Both teams got off to slow starts. The Liberty were 3-for-16 from the field, including 0-for-6 on 3s, in the first quarter. The Shock shot 5-for-16 while taking a 13-8 lead.
Detroit had a 10-0 run to take a 17-8 lead on Nolan's jumper with 8 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter.
New York scored seven consecutive points, all by McCarville, to pull to 19-17 with 3:38 left in the period.
Nolan's 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left gave the Shock a 29-23 lead at halftime. |