The easiest way to win a basketball game is to hit some shots. Close doesn't count. Hitting the rim doesn't count. The ball has to go all the way through the basket. When that doesn't happen, everything else has to go right.
For the second game in a row the New York Liberty, who had been one of the best shooting teams in the WNBA, shot the ball poorly. This time they also shot themselves in the foot with turnovers and poor rebounding. As a result, they were not able to overcome their poor marksmanship and win what could have been a close-out game. Detroit, on the other hand, shot poorly, but they gained a huge emotional lift from the courageous performance of Plenette Pierson that carried them to a 64-55 win over the Liberty, enough to force a Game Three in the Easterrn Conference Finals.
Each team had moments when they hit a few shots in a row. The Shock’s time came in the fourth quarter and they rode that to the victory. But what the Shock mainly rode was emotion. They have the pride of a champion and their season was on the line. They got a huge lift from the return of Pierson. The forward, who had been injured in the team's first-round victory over Indiana, returned to the floor despite obviously being in great pain. Pierson did more than just show up; she contributed. Playing 24 minutes with a shoulder dislocated only one week ago, Pierson scored 10 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. She also played her typically excellent defense. Since Kara Braxton was again not a factor, the team desperately needed Pierson, last year’s Sixth Woman of the Year (and runner up for the award this season), for her contribution off the bench.
Despite their poor shooting and 12 turnovers over the first three quarters, the Liberty entered the fourth quarter ahead, 46-39, and seemed to be in control. But the Liberty turned the ball over three times in the first 90 seconds of the quarter, and Detroit took advantage to cut the lead to one. Though Deanna Nolan put up 22 points, she required an equal number of shots to get there, shooting a meager 7/22 from the field. Still, Nolan came through when her team needed her most, knocking down nine points in the first 4:31 of the final quarter to give Detroit a lead they never relinquished.
After Detroit took a 54-52 lead, the Liberty had no answer. Before they scored again, they missed six shots and turned the ball over three times. Detroit stretched its lead to nine points before the Liberty could score again and New York never got closer than six points.
Katie Smith joined Nolan in double figures, putting up 11 points but against on abysmal 3/12 field goal shooting. (Smith was one-for-four from beyond the arc).
Shemeka Christon, who notched 16 points, was the only Liberty player to finish in double digits; Cathrine Kraayeveld had a team-high nine boards on an afternoon on which her team was out-rebounded 36-27 by the Shock. Taj McWilliams-Franklin hauled down a game-high 11 boards to go with six points, two assists, three steals and a block.
There will be a Game Three because, with the game on the line, Detroit's best players stepped up and New York's best did not come through. The two teams will go after each other one more time to determine who will meet San Antonio for the WNBA championship on Monday. If either team manages to shoot decently, they will likely move on.