KEY STATS

• The Liberty’s bench outscored the Sky’s 47-19
• New York outrebounded Chicago 34-32
• Chicago outscored the Liberty in points in the paint 46-34
• New York had eight more turnovers than Chicago, 16-8
• The Liberty only scored 10 points off Sky turnovers

KEY RUNS

• New York went on a 13-4 run in just under 3 minutes during the second quarter to take a nine-point lead
• Chicago opened the second half on a 12-6 run over 6:24
• The Sky went on a 16-8 run to take a 58-57 lead

CHICAGO NOTES

• For the first time all season, the Sky broke 100 points in a game
• Stefanie Dolson set a new season high for assists with six
• With five offensive rebounds, Jantel Lavender set a season high
• Lavender set a new season high in assists with four
• Lavender’s double-double was her third of the season
• With her 18 fourth-quarter points, Allie Quigley set a new personal season record for points in a quarter
• The Sky set a season high for points in a quarter with 42 in the fourth

NEW YORK NOTES

• Tina Charles established a season high with six assists. Her four first-quarter assists were also the most she’s had in a quarter this season
• Rebecca Allen set a career high in points with 21
• The Liberty’s 10 first-quarter assists matched the most they have recorded in a quarter all sea-son
• Bria Hartley’s seven assists are the most she has recorded in a game this season, also match-ing her career high
• Tanisha Wright’s seven assists are a season high

POSTGAME QUOTES

CHICAGO HEAD COACH/GM JAMES WADE

     On coming back from down 10 points:
“It shows our toughness. Of course, any coach wouldn’t want to be in those situations, but it just shows how much grit we have. So that satisfies you, but you don’t want to get down. You can find something to improve in but they showed a lot of grit, a lot of veteran play, leadership…They just come together and that says a lot for us. We like playing together.” On the Sky’s late fourth-quarter push: “We have good players, 1-12. We have good players and I just think that we came together and we just decided that it was winning time. They went on a run and we were making good reads offensively, we were forcing them into contested shots and we were rebounding out of them.”

     On Tina Charles:
“She’s a Hall of Fame player. I think she’s in the top whatever of scoring – she’s in the top ten surely of scoring. I think we were pretty solid against her. This game I think she was a little too comfortable early and she was able to see shots go in so you’ve got to push up on her a little bit. I think that [Stefanie Dolson] gave her a little too much space but as time went on in the fourth quarter, we really executed and crowded her space. We were able to dig with other guards and make it complicated for her.”

SKY CENTER JANTEL LAVENDER

     On the urgency and grit they showed to close out the win:
“Definitely, I think our team is getting to a point where we’re finally starting to come together and learn each other and sometimes you do face adversity at the start of a game but tonight we started [getting] better and like you said their bench would go on a run but I think we always countered that.

     On refining their focus and limiting mistakes going forward:
“Once we slowed down and started to execute our offense and we got stops by being in passing lanes and causing deflections that’s when I feel like our team plays at its best. So we just can’t have those lows and I think that’s where we’ll take a step towards being a championship team just more often and more games in a row.”

SKY GUARD ALLIE QUIGLEY

     On playing at Wintrust Arena after a long stretch away:
“It felt nice. It felt like forever since before the all-star break so it was great to be back home and play in front of the fans.”

     On the importance of winning tonight’s game:
“It was huge. We have not just the two road games but we have them again when we come back. So to have four tough games ahead of us and just to be able to get this win and keep New York on the bottom of the playoffs, it’s huge for us. Now we’ve just gotta take these games one at a time and get some revenge on them because we lost to them both last time. We’ve got to come with an edge.”

LIBERTY HEAD COACH KATIE SMITH

     On the game:
“I thought we played really well. I thought this was a really good effort for us, even though we came out with a loss, I just think if we play like this, we’re gonna get some wins down the stretch. Again, a few breakdowns here and there, a little stretch we turned the ball over too much in the second half– we had five in the first half, we had 17 for the game–, so those types of things still creeping in, but overall, our effort on both ends was good.”

     On how the Liberty were able to shut down the Sky’s 3-point shooting:
“We challenged our crew to run people off the line and be ready to guard when you do that. I thought our defense also, when we switched and bumped out, I think we did a pretty solid job for most of the night, I think we had bodies on, I think we contested hard and didn’t allow them just to have warm-up shots where they just stand still with nobody in front of them, so I thought we really bought in and really put out the effort on defense.”

     On Rebecca Allen’s career-high scoring night:
“This is what she does. She’s a shooter. She puts a lot of pressure on the defense. She’s in attack mode. But I think her defense is something that’s really crucial for us, and her rebounding. She’s flying around and she’s able to contest shots, she’s long, and she tracks down every ball, so I think her defense is ultimately what helps her stay on the floor, but if she can knock down shots, we can run stuff for her, but I think defensively, she’s shown she’s improved over the years.”

LIBERTY FORWARD TINA CHARLES

     On the team’s performance:
“I think that third quarter killed us. You know, I think we were up by seven or eight going into the third quarter and just the way we started the third quarter sort of allowed them to get back in the game and then we just started trading baskets.”

     On looking ahead:
“Just stay aggressive. Just take away the way we started the game, the defense that we played, just staying aggressive within ourselves and just carrying our load.”

LIBERTY GUARD REBECCA ALLEN

     On her career-high 21 points:
“It was going in. They ran some really good screens as well, got some good flares, they got me open, so that helped my game.”

     On her confidence Wednesday night:
“I hope I keep the confidence going to the next game, that’s for sure. It’s my role on the team: to hit the 3, so I’m glad I was doing it tonight.”

     On the game:
“It was one of our best team efforts. We moved the ball, defensively we did really well, Katie [Smith] said we had lapses at the start of the third [quarter], turnovers are typically our issue at times, so if we just take care of the ball, hopefully next game we’ll be better.”