Pondexter scores 40, but Liberty falls to Indiana

After posing her own question, Liberty coach Anne Donovan gave a simple one-word answer.

"Are we going to win games to get to the playoffs with just Cappie scoring half of our points?" Donovan asked after Cappie Pondexter's career-high and franchise-record 40 points were wasted in an 84-81 overtime loss.

"No."

Yesterday's loss to the Indiana Fever at the Garden epitomized the Liberty's season and might be a cruel forecast of the team's chances of making a late-season run to the playoffs.

Close, but not enough.

In the overtime, Tamika Catchings scored nine of her 22 points to help the Fever (13-7) take first place in the Eastern Conference.

Katie Douglas had 21 points and Ebony Hoffman 15 as Indiana defeated the Liberty for the seventh time in a row.

Pondexter again did most of the heavy lifting for the Liberty. In 40 minutes, she went 14-for-21 from the field, 5-for-9 from behind the arc and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. She also had seven assists.

"There aren't many players like her in the WNBA," Donovan said. "Cappie is capable of it. But we need other people to step up to play with her to win games."

Leilani Mitchell had 15 points and Janelle McCarville 12 for the Liberty.

The Liberty (9-10) is in last place in the Eastern Conference, 21/2 games out of a playoff spot.

Despite shooting 40.3 percent in the game, the Liberty had its chances in overtime. With the Fever leading 82-81, Pondexter missed a three-pointer with seven seconds left. After Catchings made two free throws, McCarville missed a desperation three-pointer as time expired.

On a day when her numbers did the talking, a somber Pondexter had an answer similar to Donovan's.

"Got to make the shots," she said. "That's really it."