Liberty wins season opener over Chicago Sky at Garden

It was like a family reunion for the Liberty in its season opener at Madison Square Garden Sunday.

New acquisitions Cappie Pondexter, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Nicole Powell squared off against former Liberty stars-turned-Chicago Sky members Shameka Christon, Cathrine Kraayeveld and Erin Thorn.

There also was a Rutgers gathering as Pondexter, along with reserves Kia Vaughn and Essence Carson, occupied the same court as Chicago Sky rookie guard Epiphanny Prince.

The day belonged to the new hometown stars as the Liberty, sparked by 22 points from Pondexter, held off the Sky, 85-82, in front of an announced crowd of 12,088.

Pondexter already had made her presence felt off the court when she demanded a trade to New York to grow her image-consulting business.

She made her presence felt on the court Sunday as she scored 13 of her 22 points in the second half, including two three-point plays during an 18-0 run in the third quarter that gave the Liberty a 68-52 lead.

It's just the type of performance Liberty coach Anne Donovan wants to see from Pondexter, who also had eight assists and five rebounds.

"Cappie, in a short period of time, has taken ownership of the Garden," Donovan said. "She knows when to attack. As long as she stays in attack mode, everyone else will get involved."

But Pondexter wasn't in attack mode the entire game, and at one point in the third quarter, Donovan said she had to pull Pondexter aside and remind her that she needs to look for scoring opportunities.

"I have a tendency of being passive and I want to get my teammates involved," Pondexter said. "But the main thing is this team needs someone to take the ballgame over. That's one reason I wanted to come here and that's the reason they wanted me here."

Although Donovan believes in the team concept, she stressed to reporters that Pondexter needs to be the focal point and not the facilitator.

"I don't want her to be concerned with getting somebody else involved," Donovan said. "I don't want her losing her focus to score first."

Pondexter drew several double- teams, which opened the door for everyone else. McWilliams-Franklin had 20 points, Powell and Carson 11 points each.

Sylvia Fowles led Chicago with 23 points and six rebounds.

"[Pondexter] with the ball in her hands is better than [us] watching somebody else with the ball in their hands," McWilliams-Franklin said. "It's the attention that she draws because the talent that she has . . . The offense really does go through her. And we need her to be attacking."

Notes & quotes: There was a minute-long tribute to Kraayeveld (11 points) and Christon (10 points) on Garden Vision during a timeout in the first quarter. Murry Bergtraum High graduate Prince (three points, three assists) made her debut at the Garden as a pro. Prince, who led Bergtraum to four PSAL championships, made national headlines her senior year in high school when she scored 113 points in one game.