Storm suffer another slow start, can’t catch Liberty

NEWARK, N.J. – After getting blown out in their last game two days earlier, New York Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer expected a much better effort from his team and he got it. For the most part.

Plenette Pierson scored nine of her 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Liberty recovered after giving up nearly all of a 19-point lead in the third quarter and beat the Seattle Storm 66-57 on Tuesday night. Pierson came off the bench for the fourth straight game and shot 8 for 15 from the field and 6 for 8 on free throws.

“Before the game I thought we were in a better place today,” Laimbeer said. “Our legs were with us from yesterday. Sunday we just weren’t with it … we just played awful.”

New York (6-7) was coming off a 29-point loss at home to Chicago on Sunday, its third straight defeat and fifth in six games.

Laimbeer also made a lineup change, starting Cappie Pondexter at point guard for the first time this season. She finished with 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting from the field and had eight rebounds and four assists.

Tina Thompson scored 13 points and Tanisha Wright added 12 for the Storm (5-8), losers of five of their last six. Seattle lost three of four on a road swing against Eastern Conference teams. Seattle, which bounced back from 14 points down in the first quarter of a victory at Chicago on July 2, trailed by 17 after one quarter against New York.

“We’ve been having poor starts for a while now,” Thompson said. “It’s something we’re going to have to find a solution to. As the game continues to go, we get better, we’re playing more efficient and executing.”

After Toni Young’s jumper in the opening possession of the third quarter extended the Liberty’s lead to 38-19, the Storm went on a 20-2 run to pull within a point on Alysha Clark’s layup with 2:58 remaining in the period.

Pondexter made two free throws 14 seconds later and Pierson followed with a bank shot less than 30 seconds later to push the lead back to five.

Noelle Quinn’s 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth pulled Seattle within three, and the Liberty scored the next seven points to extend the margin to 10 on Pondexter’s layup with 7:45 remaining.

Seattle got no closer than six the rest of the way.