Carson contributes as Liberty beats Fever

The "MVP" chants for Cappie Pondexter came in loud and clear from the 14,624 fans last night at the Garden.

In truth, Liberty coach Anne Donovan could've handed a game ball to any number of her players after an 85-73 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 1 of the WNBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series will be played Sunday in Indiana.

Pondexter took her customary place as leading scorer with 28 points - a franchise postseason record - but the inspired play of several of her teammates, including third-year pro Essence Carson and veterans Nicole Powell and Taj McWilliams-Franklin, could not be ignored.

"Experience alone can help anybody else who hasn't been to this point in their career yet," Pondexter said. "I remember my first championship run. I was nervous and excited. Having experienced veterans is a great help."

Carson was especially effective with 17 points off the bench. But Donovan was more impressed with Carson's defense on Indiana's Tamika Catchings, who had 18 points but shot 5-for-15 from the field.

"She played at both ends of the floor and had Catchings for most of the [time] she was in there," Donovan said. "She was very focused . . . Offensively, that kind of lift is a wonderful thing when you get that off of anybody off your bench."

Carson, a starter for much of her first two seasons, has played a key reserve role this year and has embraced it.

"I just try to do what I always do . . . I try to bring that energy, that sparkplug," she said. "When the opportunity is there to score, I'm going to take advantage of it."

Carson made her presence felt in the second half, scoring 11 points, including a short jumper with 2:40 left that gave the Liberty its biggest lead at 83-63.

"I think that was unexpected on their part," Pondexter said of Carson's play in the fourth. "It definitely broke their backs on the defensive end."

McWilliams-Franklin had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Powell added 13 points.

It took a little while for the Liberty to get going in the first half, especially on defense. The Fever, which led 33-23 with 7:37 left in the second quarter, shot 53 percent from the field.

But Pondexter caught fire just in time, scoring 14 points during a 25-14 run that gave the Liberty a 48-47 lead at the break.

"The first half, I was happy that we went into halftime even," Donovan said, "because I knew we could play better. We just needed to get re-focused defensively."

Notes & quotes: Liberty point guard Lelani Mitchell was named the WNBA's most improved player earlier in the day. She was the runaway winner, earning 29 of 39 total votes. Mitchell led the WNBA in three-point shooting percentage (48.6) and boosted her scoring average by nearly seven points, going from 2.4 to 9.3 points per game.