Liberty looks to meet challenge, reach conference final

It seems suitable - at least to those who have lived this tempestuous WNBA season in the thick of the Eastern Conference - that Indiana and the Liberty should be the last two teams with any games left to play in these conference semifinals, which conclude Wednesday night with a deciding Game 3 at the Garden.

"I know Indiana," Cappie Pondexter told WNBA.com. "They're not going to go away."

But really, despite being the No. 2 seed, it's the Liberty that hasn't gone away.

The team didn't go away midseason, when it was in danger of shuffling out of playoff contention, it didn't go away in Game 1, when the Liberty trailed by 10 before rallying for the win, and it didn't even disappear completely in Game 2. The Liberty trailed by 18 after the third quarter before outscoring Indiana 21-11 in the fourth. It lost, 75-67.

"This is no surprise that Indiana and New York are this tight," Liberty coach Anne Donovan said. "It comes down to possession by possession. We've been battling every night in the Eastern Conference."

But they can't all be fierce contests. The battle in Indiana on Sunday sputtered shortly before it started. The Liberty was sluggish at the onset, showing a greater resemblance to its entirely forgettable pre-All-Star break form.

"We never got into an offensive flow," Donovan said, mentioning that the team managed only seven assists. "That's disappointing. But that's why we worked for home-court advantage and that's why we look forward to going back to the Garden and seeing them again."

The key for the Liberty is similar to the Fever's challenge: contain the MVP candidate. Indiana's Tamika Catchings scored 17 in the last game, while Pondexter scored a game-high 24. Catchings added 13 rebounds in her 14th playoff double-double.

With no more margin for error, the Liberty needs to have a "sense of urgency," said Essence Carson, who scored 17 off the bench. "We need to be aggressive and lock down our defense."

Indiana won for the first time in five games on Sunday. The Liberty has a streak of its own, one it wants desperately to protect Wednesday night: It has won nine straight at the Garden. No. 10 will mean a trip to Atlanta and reaching the Conference finals for the first time since 2008.