McCarville, Greene pace Liberty

Twice, Cappie Pondexter's efforts against the Mystics had gone for naught. Yesterday, she got a little help from her friends.

Janel McCarville had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kalana Greene scored all 11 of her points in a span of 4:13 in the third and fourth quarters as the Liberty beat the second-place Washington Mystics, 75-67, at Madison Square Garden.

Pondexter had 17 points and seven assists, but the last eight of her points came in the final 2:47 after the Liberty had taken a 63-58 lead. For one day, she left the game-changing to her teammates.

No matter. Not with what Greene had cooking.

The rookie scored nine points in the final 3:51 of the third quarter, including a driving coast-to-coast layup after stealing the ball from Leilani Mitchell to put the Liberty ahead 42-39 and a key feed to Nicole Powell (10 points) for a three-pointer.

Greene added a pair of layups and a three-pointer with 24 seconds left in the third quarter that gave the Liberty a 10-point lead, and her driving layup 22 seconds into the fourth quarter made it 56-44. McCarville's jumper then gave the Liberty a 58-44 advantage, and the Mystics never got closer than five after that.

Greene shot 5-for-7 from the field. "The surprise with Kalani has worn off really early," coach Anne Donovan said. "We've missed her the past couple games; she's faded into the background . . . [but today] Janel and Kalana were the difference."

The fifth-place Liberty (9-9) had dropped both previous games to Washington, but a 26-16 advantage in the third quarter broke open a game that had been tied at halftime.

"We've got a chip on our shoulders after the last two times," Greene said. Now, with the Liberty winning five of its last seven, "everyone is coming in and doing their job."

Said McCarville, "It feels good for the time being."

Crystal Langhorne had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Mystics (12-6). Monique Currie had 12 points, Katie Smith 11 and Lindsey Harding 10.